John Q. Barrett
@johnqbarrett.bsky.social
Benjamin N. Cardozo Professor of Law,
St. John's University, NYC.
Robert H. Jackson Center.
Jackson biographer.
Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure,
Legal History, Nuremberg, SCOTUS.
Iran-Contra & DOJ alum.
Wisconsin native.
#JacksonList
St. John's University, NYC.
Robert H. Jackson Center.
Jackson biographer.
Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure,
Legal History, Nuremberg, SCOTUS.
Iran-Contra & DOJ alum.
Wisconsin native.
#JacksonList
Pinned
John Q. Barrett
@johnqbarrett.bsky.social
· Nov 21
"No more time for foolishness."
--Judge A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., quoting in 1998 a sign that he once saw on the bumper of a taxicab in Lagos, Nigeria.
--Judge A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., quoting in 1998 a sign that he once saw on the bumper of a taxicab in Lagos, Nigeria.
The Supreme Court’s Ker-Frisbie doctrine:
A U.S. court constitutionally may try a defendant who has been seized illegally, such as by abduction.
Ker v. Illinois (1886)
Frisbie v. Collins (1952)
A U.S. court constitutionally may try a defendant who has been seized illegally, such as by abduction.
Ker v. Illinois (1886)
Frisbie v. Collins (1952)
January 3, 2026 at 3:16 PM
The Supreme Court’s Ker-Frisbie doctrine:
A U.S. court constitutionally may try a defendant who has been seized illegally, such as by abduction.
Ker v. Illinois (1886)
Frisbie v. Collins (1952)
A U.S. court constitutionally may try a defendant who has been seized illegally, such as by abduction.
Ker v. Illinois (1886)
Frisbie v. Collins (1952)
Here’s DOJ’s March 2020 press release, when the U.S. v. Maduro indictment was unsealed. It includes links to indictments & press conference remarks.
www.justice.gov/archives/opa...
www.justice.gov/archives/opa...
www.justice.gov
January 3, 2026 at 12:48 PM
Here’s DOJ’s March 2020 press release, when the U.S. v. Maduro indictment was unsealed. It includes links to indictments & press conference remarks.
www.justice.gov/archives/opa...
www.justice.gov/archives/opa...
Kudos to @tylerpager.bsky.social for great news gathering.
But no reporter should be able to cold-call a U.S. president, especially not when the president is functioning as military commander in chief.
Shame on Pres. Trump for being this kind of unprofessional president [among other unfitnesses].
But no reporter should be able to cold-call a U.S. president, especially not when the president is functioning as military commander in chief.
Shame on Pres. Trump for being this kind of unprofessional president [among other unfitnesses].
Tyler Pager (@tylerpager.bsky.social)
White House correspondent, New York Times | tyler.pager@nytimes.com
Co-author, 2024 | Order here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/754957/2024-by-josh-dawsey-tyler-pager-isaac-arnsdorf/
tylerpager.bsky.social
January 3, 2026 at 12:31 PM
Kudos to @tylerpager.bsky.social for great news gathering.
But no reporter should be able to cold-call a U.S. president, especially not when the president is functioning as military commander in chief.
Shame on Pres. Trump for being this kind of unprofessional president [among other unfitnesses].
But no reporter should be able to cold-call a U.S. president, especially not when the president is functioning as military commander in chief.
Shame on Pres. Trump for being this kind of unprofessional president [among other unfitnesses].
It’s an act of national power to impose economic sanctions on a person. The question, every time, is whether it’s right policy.
Here’s what the U.S. is doing to International Criminal Court judge Kimberly Prost & colleagues for doing ICC work—not right/beneath us.
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
Here’s what the U.S. is doing to International Criminal Court judge Kimberly Prost & colleagues for doing ICC work—not right/beneath us.
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
‘It’s surreal’: US sanctions lock International Criminal Court judge out of daily life
Canadian judge Kimberly Prost is unable to use credit cards, transfer money or book everyday services in what she calls an attack on the independence of the judiciary
www.irishtimes.com
January 2, 2026 at 4:32 PM
It’s an act of national power to impose economic sanctions on a person. The question, every time, is whether it’s right policy.
Here’s what the U.S. is doing to International Criminal Court judge Kimberly Prost & colleagues for doing ICC work—not right/beneath us.
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
Here’s what the U.S. is doing to International Criminal Court judge Kimberly Prost & colleagues for doing ICC work—not right/beneath us.
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
Here's a new #JacksonList essay, "Court Clerk Good Wishes for Years Ahead (1947)," on Charles Elmore Cropley's affection for Justice Robert H. Jackson.
Happy New Year to you and yours!
thejacksonlist.com/2026/01/01/c...
Happy New Year to you and yours!
thejacksonlist.com/2026/01/01/c...
Court Clerk Good Wishes for Years Ahead (1947)
Charles Elmore Cropley (1894-1952) worked at the Supreme Court of the United States for nearly all of his life, rising from the lowly position of page to a senior staff position, Clerk of the Court…
thejacksonlist.com
January 1, 2026 at 11:54 PM
Here's a new #JacksonList essay, "Court Clerk Good Wishes for Years Ahead (1947)," on Charles Elmore Cropley's affection for Justice Robert H. Jackson.
Happy New Year to you and yours!
thejacksonlist.com/2026/01/01/c...
Happy New Year to you and yours!
thejacksonlist.com/2026/01/01/c...
In his year-end report yesterday, Chief Justice Roberts referred to "the overruling of Plessy [v. Ferguson] in Brown v. Board of Education."
*Didn't happen.*
In Brown, the Court announced that henceforth "in the field of public education the [Plessy] doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place."
*Didn't happen.*
In Brown, the Court announced that henceforth "in the field of public education the [Plessy] doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place."
January 1, 2026 at 5:36 PM
In his year-end report yesterday, Chief Justice Roberts referred to "the overruling of Plessy [v. Ferguson] in Brown v. Board of Education."
*Didn't happen.*
In Brown, the Court announced that henceforth "in the field of public education the [Plessy] doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place."
*Didn't happen.*
In Brown, the Court announced that henceforth "in the field of public education the [Plessy] doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place."
On January 1, 1942, Allied opponents of the Axis powers (Nazi Germany, imperial Japan, & fascist Italy) declared that they were “United Nations.”
They agreed to fight & win together, to make no separate peace, & after victory to create a global peacekeeping organization.
www.un.org/en/yearbook/...
They agreed to fight & win together, to make no separate peace, & after victory to create a global peacekeeping organization.
www.un.org/en/yearbook/...
When was the term United Nations first used? | United Nations
The term United Nations, originally suggested by United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was first used in the Declaration by United Nations, signed in Washington, D.C., on 1 January 1942—i...
www.un.org
January 1, 2026 at 2:01 PM
On January 1, 1942, Allied opponents of the Axis powers (Nazi Germany, imperial Japan, & fascist Italy) declared that they were “United Nations.”
They agreed to fight & win together, to make no separate peace, & after victory to create a global peacekeeping organization.
www.un.org/en/yearbook/...
They agreed to fight & win together, to make no separate peace, & after victory to create a global peacekeeping organization.
www.un.org/en/yearbook/...
Do you understand the value of lawyers and their professional, ethical responsibilities? Then you understand that, just at that level, this is an awful headline.
Plus it’s got anti-Muslim aroma, which also stinks….
@haaretzcom.bsky.social @haaretz.bsky.social
www.haaretz.com/us-news/2025...
Plus it’s got anti-Muslim aroma, which also stinks….
@haaretzcom.bsky.social @haaretz.bsky.social
www.haaretz.com/us-news/2025...
NYC Mayor-elect Mamdani taps Mahmoud Khalil's lawyer as top legal adviser
Ramzi Kassem, a Former Senior Immigration Policy Adviser in the Biden Administration Who Represented pro-Palestinian and anti-Gaza War Activists Detained Under the Trump Administration, Will Serve as ...
www.haaretz.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Do you understand the value of lawyers and their professional, ethical responsibilities? Then you understand that, just at that level, this is an awful headline.
Plus it’s got anti-Muslim aroma, which also stinks….
@haaretzcom.bsky.social @haaretz.bsky.social
www.haaretz.com/us-news/2025...
Plus it’s got anti-Muslim aroma, which also stinks….
@haaretzcom.bsky.social @haaretz.bsky.social
www.haaretz.com/us-news/2025...
Here's a video bit from me on "Why Robert H. Jackson?"
Thanks, @constitutionctr.bsky.social.
(Thanks, teachers and role models.
Thanks, RHJ.)
#JacksonList
Thanks, @constitutionctr.bsky.social.
(Thanks, teachers and role models.
Thanks, RHJ.)
#JacksonList
On #WeThePeoplePodcast Jeffrey Rosen explores the lasting importance of Justice Robert Jackson’s legacy with authors John Barrett, Gerard Magliocca and G. Edward White.
Hear John Barrett explain why he is drawn to the life of Jackson.
Full episode: https://ow.ly/Hxw350XOmVX
Hear John Barrett explain why he is drawn to the life of Jackson.
Full episode: https://ow.ly/Hxw350XOmVX
December 31, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Here's a video bit from me on "Why Robert H. Jackson?"
Thanks, @constitutionctr.bsky.social.
(Thanks, teachers and role models.
Thanks, RHJ.)
#JacksonList
Thanks, @constitutionctr.bsky.social.
(Thanks, teachers and role models.
Thanks, RHJ.)
#JacksonList
Putting this Republican ~thinking about health care more succinctly: “Homina, homina.”
GOP Rep. Sheri Biggs on healthcare: "We have been working really hard to make sure that we've got a good plan, and I think you're gonna see, I think you're gonna see a change for sure, and the Americans are gonna be happy with the outcome."
December 30, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Putting this Republican ~thinking about health care more succinctly: “Homina, homina.”
Here’s Christopher Caldwell & Claremont Institute racist hostility to U.S. values, history, law, and wonderful people.
Could this be serious?
Or is it just trolling, trying for nihilistic reasons to pull some people downward from what’s right and better?
Could this be serious?
Or is it just trolling, trying for nihilistic reasons to pull some people downward from what’s right and better?
This is how Christopher Caldwell begins his essay on Zohran Mamdani for the Claremont Review of Books.
Why are these people such freaks?
Why are these people such freaks?
December 30, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Here’s Christopher Caldwell & Claremont Institute racist hostility to U.S. values, history, law, and wonderful people.
Could this be serious?
Or is it just trolling, trying for nihilistic reasons to pull some people downward from what’s right and better?
Could this be serious?
Or is it just trolling, trying for nihilistic reasons to pull some people downward from what’s right and better?
Mega Death Cab for Cutie
ruin two bands by combining them:
Fugazi Osbourne
Fugazi Osbourne
ruin two bands by combining them:
kornplay
kornplay
December 29, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Mega Death Cab for Cutie
Reposted by John Q. Barrett
I have a sneaking suspicion that no one involved in this farce, especially Trump, has the foggiest idea what "Memorial" means.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
A Memorial to Kennedy? It’s Trump’s Now, Too.
www.nytimes.com
December 20, 2025 at 1:33 PM
I have a sneaking suspicion that no one involved in this farce, especially Trump, has the foggiest idea what "Memorial" means.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
Congratulations to @harvard.edu for having student @alexbronzini.bsky.social. He understands free thought and speech, academic freedom, and what a university should be.
This is not breaking news to most of us, but I appreciated this opinion piece from current Harvard undergrad @alexbronzini.bsky.social making concrete some of what the new regime of campus speech restriction looks like.
We need more of this, especially students describing their direct experience.
We need more of this, especially students describing their direct experience.
Opinion | Harvard’s New Campus Orthodoxy Is Even More Stifling Than the Old
www.nytimes.com
December 29, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Congratulations to @harvard.edu for having student @alexbronzini.bsky.social. He understands free thought and speech, academic freedom, and what a university should be.
Who in U.S. public life, past or present, really has been just trolling?—a performance artist who knows it was/knows it is an act, & for whatever ego, power, etc. reasons just stays/stayed with it?
This great Kate @klonick.bsky.social memory reminds me that Phyllis Schlafly was, I think, one such.
This great Kate @klonick.bsky.social memory reminds me that Phyllis Schlafly was, I think, one such.
I once asked Karen Decrow, president of NOW (1974-77), what she thought of STOP ERA President, 3x congressional candidate, author, lawyer, and avowed anti-Feminist Phyllis Schlafly.
Karen laughed and said:
“I always said if I had a daughter, I’d want her to be a housewife just like Phyllis.”
Karen laughed and said:
“I always said if I had a daughter, I’d want her to be a housewife just like Phyllis.”
“Woman Enjoying Career Literally Made Possible by Feminism Declares Feminism a Failure”
December 28, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Who in U.S. public life, past or present, really has been just trolling?—a performance artist who knows it was/knows it is an act, & for whatever ego, power, etc. reasons just stays/stayed with it?
This great Kate @klonick.bsky.social memory reminds me that Phyllis Schlafly was, I think, one such.
This great Kate @klonick.bsky.social memory reminds me that Phyllis Schlafly was, I think, one such.
We in the U.S. used to interpret the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause—no laws establishing religion—to bar these kinds of sectarian, divisive federal government messages. In other words, we chose equality & inclusion over being a Christian, Jewish, Islamic, etc. nation.
We were better then.
We were better then.
December 28, 2025 at 2:13 PM
We in the U.S. used to interpret the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause—no laws establishing religion—to bar these kinds of sectarian, divisive federal government messages. In other words, we chose equality & inclusion over being a Christian, Jewish, Islamic, etc. nation.
We were better then.
We were better then.
Possible, soon:
Jeffrey Epstein investigation documents containing allegations of Donald Trump crimes, with child victim names redacted.
Dates, places, and names of alleged witnesses should *not* be redacted.
And then media & all good people should demand scrutiny, facts, and full accountability.
Jeffrey Epstein investigation documents containing allegations of Donald Trump crimes, with child victim names redacted.
Dates, places, and names of alleged witnesses should *not* be redacted.
And then media & all good people should demand scrutiny, facts, and full accountability.
December 27, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Possible, soon:
Jeffrey Epstein investigation documents containing allegations of Donald Trump crimes, with child victim names redacted.
Dates, places, and names of alleged witnesses should *not* be redacted.
And then media & all good people should demand scrutiny, facts, and full accountability.
Jeffrey Epstein investigation documents containing allegations of Donald Trump crimes, with child victim names redacted.
Dates, places, and names of alleged witnesses should *not* be redacted.
And then media & all good people should demand scrutiny, facts, and full accountability.
Here's 1945 "Nuremberg trial" Christmas card -- military policemen angels, holding a candle that casts light on the dark world.
Peace, law, and light, all!
Peace, law, and light, all!
December 26, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Here's 1945 "Nuremberg trial" Christmas card -- military policemen angels, holding a candle that casts light on the dark world.
Peace, law, and light, all!
Peace, law, and light, all!
A DOJ-released photo of Jeffrey Epstein, redacted to conceal a known/possible victim of crime, likely sexual assault.
Such Epstein- & ?-protecting over-redacting is illegal. The law permits withholding "personal information of victims." That would be face, maybe more. But should show silhouette,...
Such Epstein- & ?-protecting over-redacting is illegal. The law permits withholding "personal information of victims." That would be face, maybe more. But should show silhouette,...
December 24, 2025 at 10:19 PM
A DOJ-released photo of Jeffrey Epstein, redacted to conceal a known/possible victim of crime, likely sexual assault.
Such Epstein- & ?-protecting over-redacting is illegal. The law permits withholding "personal information of victims." That would be face, maybe more. But should show silhouette,...
Such Epstein- & ?-protecting over-redacting is illegal. The law permits withholding "personal information of victims." That would be face, maybe more. But should show silhouette,...
Justice Kavanaugh once was a law clerk to U.S. Circuit Judge Walter K. Stapleton. He and colleagues heard cases in the U.S. Courthouse in Philadelphia.
Guess what never happened there, then or ever?
So why this Kavanaugh extreme hypothesizing today in his concurring opinion in Trump v. Illinois?
Guess what never happened there, then or ever?
So why this Kavanaugh extreme hypothesizing today in his concurring opinion in Trump v. Illinois?
December 23, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Justice Kavanaugh once was a law clerk to U.S. Circuit Judge Walter K. Stapleton. He and colleagues heard cases in the U.S. Courthouse in Philadelphia.
Guess what never happened there, then or ever?
So why this Kavanaugh extreme hypothesizing today in his concurring opinion in Trump v. Illinois?
Guess what never happened there, then or ever?
So why this Kavanaugh extreme hypothesizing today in his concurring opinion in Trump v. Illinois?
A new #JacksonList essay, on deer hunting and dear colleagues at Nuremberg, prosecuting principal Nazi war criminals, in December 1945.
Best wishes to you and yours for happy holidays, plus peace, law, and accountability.
thejacksonlist.com/2025/12/22/d...
Best wishes to you and yours for happy holidays, plus peace, law, and accountability.
thejacksonlist.com/2025/12/22/d...
Deer and Dear in Nuremberg (December 1945)
On Wednesday, November 21, 1945, United States chief prosecutor Justice Robert H. Jackson delivered his opening statement in the international trial of accused Nazi war criminals. The next day, U.S…
thejacksonlist.com
December 22, 2025 at 3:49 PM
A new #JacksonList essay, on deer hunting and dear colleagues at Nuremberg, prosecuting principal Nazi war criminals, in December 1945.
Best wishes to you and yours for happy holidays, plus peace, law, and accountability.
thejacksonlist.com/2025/12/22/d...
Best wishes to you and yours for happy holidays, plus peace, law, and accountability.
thejacksonlist.com/2025/12/22/d...
This would be an effort to use Korematsu, which upheld as constitutional Gen. DeWitt/1942/Western Military Command curfews then exclusion of Japanese-Americans.
But where’s the factual predicate, the “Venezuela” military attack on the U.S. homeland?
But where’s the factual predicate, the “Venezuela” military attack on the U.S. homeland?
I keep saying this but no one is connecting the dots. The war is to satisfy legal preconditions for mass removal *domestically* of Latinos (i.e., suddenly a lot of people are going to be “Venezuelan” for purposes of removal). This is 100% Stephen Miller…oil claim is to make grandpa go along
There is no national security logic that would impel the US to want to do regime change in Venezuela. It's simply not that important. I'm not even sure wag the dog is the right metaphor for what's happening here. Seems like an insane misallocation of US national security assets and attention.
December 19, 2025 at 2:37 PM
This would be an effort to use Korematsu, which upheld as constitutional Gen. DeWitt/1942/Western Military Command curfews then exclusion of Japanese-Americans.
But where’s the factual predicate, the “Venezuela” military attack on the U.S. homeland?
But where’s the factual predicate, the “Venezuela” military attack on the U.S. homeland?
Thank you to U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny (WDNY) for decades of dedicated, high quality public service.
www.wgrz.com/article/news...
www.wgrz.com/article/news...
Federal judge William Skretny retires after 35 years on the bench
Nominated to the federal bench by President George H.W. Bush, Skretny presided over several landmark cases in Western New York.
www.wgrz.com
December 19, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Thank you to U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny (WDNY) for decades of dedicated, high quality public service.
www.wgrz.com/article/news...
www.wgrz.com/article/news...
ICE/CBP lawbreaking today at O’Hare:
Border patrol under command of Greg Bovino running a checkpoint at the exit to the Uber lot at O’Hare airport in Chicago, asking drivers for proof of valid residency in this country
December 19, 2025 at 1:05 AM
ICE/CBP lawbreaking today at O’Hare:
