John Campbell "Cam" Barker (born 1980) is a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (in case citations, E.D. Tex.) is a federal court in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Fifth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. ...

Education and career

Barker earned his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'', in

computer engineering Computer engineering (CoE or CpE) is a branch of electrical engineering and computer science that integrates several fields of computer science and electronic engineering required to develop computer hardware and software. Computer engineers ...

. As an undergraduate, he was inducted into

Tau Beta Pi The Tau Beta Pi Association (commonly Tau Beta Pi, , or TBP) is the oldest engineering honor society and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the United States. It honors engineering students in American universities who have shown a ...

,“Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees,”
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary hired by Microsoft as a programmer,“Investiture Ceremony”
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and co-authored a paper published in the IEEE Transactions on Multimedia. Barker then earned his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...

with highest honors, graduating first in his class. While on the law review there, Barker published an article on copyright statutory damages that was cited by the district court in ''

Sony BMG v. Tenenbaum In the case of ''Sony BMG Music Entertainment et al. v. Tenenbaum'', record label Sony BMG, along with Warner Bros. Records, Atlantic Records, Arista Records, and UMG Recordings, accused Joel Tenenbaum of illegally downloading and sharing files ...

'', 721 F. Supp. 2d 85 (D. Mass. 2010). Upon graduation from law school, Barker served as a law clerk to Judge

William Curtis Bryson William Curtis Bryson (born August 19, 1945) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He also served a 7-year term as a judge on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Co ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the Federal judiciary of ...

and Judge

John M. Walker Jr. John Mercer Walker Jr. (born December 26, 1940) is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He served as chief judge from September 30, 2000, to September 30, 2006, when he assumed senior ...

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 juri ...

. After his clerkships, he served as a trial attorney in the Department of Justice's Criminal Division for four years and was detailed as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the

Eastern District of Virginia The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (in case citations, E.D. Va.) is one of two United States district courts serving the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. It has jurisdiction over the Northern Virginia, H ...

in 2009. Barker prosecuted three members of the

MS-13 Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1970s and 1980s. Originally, the gang was set up to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other gangs in the Los Ange ...

gang who were convicted of conspiracy and racketeering. Barker was given the Department of Justice's Meritorious Award three times while serving under U.S. Attorneys General

Michael Mukasey Michael Bernard Mukasey (; born July 28, 1941) is an American attorney and former federal judge who served as the 81st Attorney General of the United States from 2007 to 2009. Born in New York City in 1941, Mukasey attended Ramaz School, graduat ...

and

Eric Holder Eric Himpton Holder Jr. (born January 21, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States from 2009 to 2015. Holder, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama, was the first African America ...

. Also while at the Department of Justice, the

American Inns of Court American Inns of Court (AIC) are designed to improve the skills, professionalism and ethics of the bench and bar. An American Inn of Court is an amalgam of judges, lawyers, and in some cases, law professors and law students. Each Inn meets approx ...

selected Barker to visit London and study English law as one of two annual Pegasus Scholars. From 2011 to 2015, Barker practiced commercial and

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

law at Yetter Coleman LLP in Texas, where he was named a partner. While at the firm, Barker was twice named to the Pro Bono College of the

State Bar of Texas The State Bar of Texas (the Texas Bar) is an agency of the judiciary under the administrative control of the Texas Supreme Court. It is responsible for assisting the Texas Supreme Court in overseeing all attorneys licensed to practice law in Te ...

and was named Appellate Lawyer of the Week by Texas Lawyer magazine for helping an immigrant reverse a decision denying him asylum. From 2015 to 2019, Barker served as Deputy Solicitor General of Texas under

Solicitors General A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

Scott A. Keller and Kyle D. Hawkins, in which he helped to represent the state of Texas on appeal before federal and state courts in civil and criminal actions."President Donald J. Trump Announces Tenth Wave of Judicial Candidates" White House, January 23, 2018
For his work there, Barker twice earned a Best Brief Award from the

National Association of Attorneys General The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of state and territory attorneys general in the United States. NAAG is governed by member attorneys general, with a president and executive committee se ...

Federal judicial service

On January 23, 2018, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

nominated Barker to the seat on the

vacated by Judge Leonard Davis, who retired on May 15, 2015. On May 9, 2018, a hearing on his nomination was held before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...

. On June 7, 2018, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 vote. On January 3, 2019, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of 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 January 23, 2019, President Trump announced his intent to renominate Barker for a federal judgeship. His nomination was sent to the Senate later that day. On February 7, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote. On April 30, 2019, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 52–46 vote. On May 1, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a 51–47 vote. He received his judicial commission on May 3, 2019.

Notable rulings

On February 25, 2021, Barker struck down the CDC's federal eviction moratorium.https://www.vox.com/2021/2/26/22302149/eviction-moratorium-trump-judge-campbell-barker-terkel-cdc-commerce-clause-constitution ''Vox.'' February 26, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2021.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, J. Campbell 1980 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Assistant United States Attorneys Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Lawyers from New Orleans Texas lawyers Texas A&M University alumni United States Department of Justice lawyers United States district court judges appointed by Donald Trump University of Texas School of Law alumni

Education and career

Federal judicial service

Notable rulings

See also

References

External links