U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh CircuitcircuitRetired 2020 · served 2017–2020Appointed by Donald J. Trump (Republican) 29 signed orders read
Judge Barrett no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Barrett decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Textualist reading of statutes and regulations, with marked skepticism of agency requests for deference: she declines to defer where the traditional tools of construction yield a single answer, reserving deference for genuinely ambiguous text.
“Auer only applies, however, to agency interpretations of genuinely ambiguous regulations”
Strict invited-error / waiver enforcement: a party who affirmatively urges the trial court to take an action cannot later complain on appeal that taking it was error. She distinguishes waiver (which extinguishes the error entirely) from mere forfeiture (reviewed for plain error).
“Having specifically and repeatedly told the district court that it was appropriate to assign him a criminal history point for each of the marijuana offenses, Barnes cannot now complain that the court erred by agreeing with him.”
Judge Barrett no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.