Barrington Daniels Parker (November 17, 1915 – June 2, 1993) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District ...

Education and career

Parker was born in Rosslyn,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, on November 17, 1915. His father was dean of the now-closed Terrell Law School in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Barrington attended Dunbar High School in Washington, and graduated from Lincoln University in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in 1936 with an Artium Baccalaureus degree in economics, and from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1938 with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

, finally receiving a Juris Doctor from the

University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the law school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is consistently ranked among the best and most prestigious law schools in the world, and has many dis ...

in 1947.

Federal judicial service

On September 15, 1969, Parker was nominated by President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Joseph Charles McGarraghy. Parker was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on December 18, 1969, and received his commission on December 19, 1969. Parker assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on December 19, 1985, and served in that capacity until his death. He died on June 2, 1993 at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Notable cases

Parker's most high profile case was the criminal trial of

John Hinckley Jr. John Warnock Hinckley Jr. (born May 29, 1955) is an American man who attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C. on March 30, 1981, two months after Reagan's first inauguration. Using a .22 caliber revolver, Hinck ...

Parker also ordered the closure of the High Security Unit in Lexington, Kentucky, a women's prison wing used to house certain prisoners in isolation based on their political beliefs or affiliations. Parker said in his ruling that: '"The treatment of the plaintiffs has skirted elemental standards of human decency. The exaggerated security, small group isolation and staff harassment serve to constantly undermine the inmates' morale". He ordered the Bureau of Prisons to rewrite its regulations and transfer the handful of prisoners held there into the general prison population.Jan Susler, "The Women's High Security Unit in Lexington, KY", ''Yale Journal of Law and Liberation'' 31 (1989): 31-42.

Personal life

Parker's son, Barrington Daniels Parker Jr., is a senior judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate ju ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Barrington Daniels 1915 births 1993 deaths Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia United States district court judges appointed by Richard Nixon 20th-century American judges African-American judges Washington, D.C., Republicans 20th-century American lawyers Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.) alumni