Barrington Daniels Parker

Barrington Daniels Parker (November 17, 1915 – June 2, 1993) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Education and career

Parker was born in Rosslyn, Virginia, on November 17, 1915. His father was dean of the now-closed Terrell Law School in Washington, D.C. Barrington attended Dunbar High School in Washington, and graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1936 with an Artium Baccalaureus degree in economics, and from the University of Pennsylvania in 1938 with a Master of Arts, finally receiving a J.D. degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1947.

Federal judicial service

On September 15, 1969, Parker was nominated by President Richard Nixon to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia vacated by Judge Joseph Charles McGarraghy. Parker was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 18, 1969, and received his commission on December 19, 1969. Parker assumed senior status on December 19, 1985, and served in that capacity until his death.

Notable cases

Parker's most high-profile case was the criminal trial of John Hinckley Jr. He ordered the Bureau of Prisons to rewrite its regulations and transfer the handful of prisoners held there into the general prison population.

Personal life

Parker's son, Barrington D. Parker Jr., is a senior judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.