John Q. Barrett

John Q. Barrett is a Professor of Law at St. John's University in New York City, where he teaches constitutional law, criminal procedure and legal history, and he is the Elizabeth S. Lenna Fellow and a board member at the Robert H. Jackson Center in Jamestown, New York.  He currently is teaching in St. John's program at ISDE in Barcelona, Spain.  Professor Barrett has in the past been named a "Professor of the Year" by St. John's law students and in 2009 received a Faculty Outstanding Achievement Medal from the University.  He is a graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard Law School.

Justice Robert H. Jackson:  Professor Barrett is writing a biography of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Nuremberg prosecutor Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954).  This work will include the first inside account of Justice Jackson's service, by appointment of President Truman, as the chief prosecutor at Nuremberg, Germany, of the principal surviving Nazi leaders during 1945 and 1946.

The Jackson List Professor Barrett sends periodic emails to over 14,000 subscribers who are interested in Justice Jackson and related topics.  To read archived copies of some Jackson List posts, click here.  To join the Jackson List, which does not display recipient identities or email addresses, send a "subscribe" note to barrettj@stjohns.edu.

That Man:  An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Professor Barrett discovered and edited Justice Jackson's previously unknown, never published, now acclaimed book That Man:  An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt (Oxford University Press).  That Man, Jackson's intimate, eloquent memoir of FDR from their first meeting as young men in 1911 through their close working relationship and friendship during the New Deal years and World War II, is available in paperback, including through Amazon.Com That Man, a Main Selection of the Book of the Month Club and the History Book Club and a Choice Outstanding Academic title, was reviewed prominently in many publications, including The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Monthly, The New Republic and Legal Times, and the book is regularly quoted around the world.  Professor Barrett has discussed That Man in major media and public venues throughout the United States, including on NPR's "All Things Considered".

Recent Activities:   Last month, Professor Barrett spoke at the Second Circuit Judicial Conference and at the 40th anniversary of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.  In October 2009, he delivered a major lecture in Nuremberg, Germany, on the U.S. role in the Nuremberg trial.  In July 2009, he received a History Award Medal from the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).  In June 2009, Professor Barrett delivered, at the invitation of Attorney General Holder, a lecture in the Attorney General's conference room on former AG Jackson and Nuremberg.  In November 2008, Professor Barrett helped to organize and participated as a panelist in the Presidential Libraries/National Archives conference, "The Presidency & the Supreme Court," at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library-- click here for video and transcripts.
      During 2005-2007, Professor Barrett was a principal speaker at numerous conferences commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trial, including conferences in Nuremberg itself, at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow and, in the United States, at locations including Harvard University and the Truman Presidential Library.  He appears in the film Hitler's Courts:  Betrayal of the Rule of Law in Nazi Germany, in the PBS/WGBH American Experience documentary, The Nuremberg Trials, and in the PBS documentary Legacy of War.

Before joining the St. John's faculty, Professor Barrett was Counselor during 1994-1995 to U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General Michael R. Bromwich.  From 1988-1993, Barrett was Associate Counsel in the Office of Independent Counsel Lawrence E. Walsh (Iran/Contra).  From 1986-1988, Barrett served as a law clerk to Judge A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia.

In addition to teaching Constitutional Law and Criminal Procedure, Professor Barrett has taught legal history seminars on American Judicial Biography, the Hughes and Stone Courts (1930-46), and the Nuremberg Trial, Introduction to Law & the Legal Profession, Professional Responsibility, and White Collar Crime.  Professor Barrett also has taught Constitutional Law modules in St. John's Summer Prep Program for College Students and a course, "Nuremberg, International Human Rights & Humanitarian Law," in Touro Law Center's summer program at the University of Potsdam Law School in Germany

Professor Barrett speaks regularly on the Supreme Court, Justice Jackson, Nuremberg, Franklin D. Roosevelt,  That Man and other legal and historical topics in public venues and to community, campus, corporate and other audiences and groups throughout the United States and abroad.  Professor Barrett also is a regular national media commentator on legal and historical issues.

Professor Barrett is a member of the Supreme Court Historical Society, serves on The Roosevelt Institution advisory board, is a member New York City Bar Association and its Legal History Committee, and is a supporter of The Parent-Child Home Program and the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues.

Last updated 7/7/2010.

John Q. Barrett