J. Campbell Barker
John Campbell Barker (born 1980) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Early life and education. Barker earned his Bachelor of Science from Texas A&M University, summa cum laude, in computer engineering. As an undergraduate, he was inducted into Tau Beta Pi, hired by Microsoft as a programmer, and co-authored a paper published in the IEEE Transactions on Multimedia. Barker then earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law 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", 721 F. Supp. 2d 85 (D. Mass. 2010). Upon graduation from law school, Barker served as a law clerk to Judge William C. Bryson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and Judge John M. Walker Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. 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 in 2009. Barker prosecuted three members of the MS-13 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 and Eric Holder. Also while at the Department of Justice, the American Inns of Court 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 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 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 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. For his work there, Barker twice earned a Best Brief Award from the National  Association of Attorneys General. Federal judicial service. On January 23, 2018, President Trump nominated Barker to the seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas 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. On June 7, 2018, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 party-line vote. On January 3, 2019, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate. 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 voted to invoke cloture on his nomination by a party-line vote of 52–46. He was confirmed by the full U.S. Senate on May 1, 2019 by a 51–47 vote. He received his judicial commission on May 3, 2019. On February 25, 2021, Barker struck down the CDC's federal eviction moratorium.