David Jeremiah Barron

David Jeremiah Barron (born July 7, 1967) is an American lawyer who serves as the Chief United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and former S. William Green Professor of Public Law at Harvard Law School. He previously served as the Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Counsel at the United States Department of Justice. Barron is known for his controversial legal memo justifying the use of lethal drone strikes against U.S. citizens without judicial process. Early life and education Barron was born on July 7, 1967, in Washington, D.C., and is the son of George Washington University Law School professor and former dean Jerome A. Barron. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, in 1989, from Harvard College, serving as president of the Harvard Crimson. After graduation, he worked as a reporter for The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina, from 1989 to 1991. Returning to school, he received a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, in 1994, from Harvard Law School, serving on the Harvard Law Review. He worked as a law clerk for Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1994 to 1995 and for Justice John Paul Stevens of the United States Supreme Court from 1995 to 1996. He worked as an attorney-advisor in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel from 1996 to 1999. Academic career