Background
Barry was born in 1937 in New York City, New York, to real-estate developer Fred Trump and Mary MacLeod Trump.
Barry was born in 1937 in New York City, New York, to real-estate developer Fred Trump and Mary MacLeod Trump.
Bachelor, Mount Holyoke College, 1958; Master of Arts, Columbia University, 1962; Juris Doctor, Hofstra U., 1974; Doctor of Laws (honorary), Hofstra U. Doctor of Laws (honorary), Seton Hall U. Doctor of Laws (honorary), Caldwell College.
She is the older sister of businessman Donald Trump. Barry received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science/Government from Mount Holyoke College in 1958, an Master of Arts from Columbia University in 1962, and her Juris Doctor from Hofstra University School of Law in 1974. Prior to her service as a judge, she had held other public service positions, having been an Assistant United States. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
Barry was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on September 14, 1983, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey vacated by Henry Curtis Meanor.
She was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 6, 1983, and received her commission the next day. A Republican, Barry was nominated to be a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit by President Bill Clinton on June 17, 1999, to replace H. Lee Sarokin, who had retired in 1996.
President Clinton in 1998 had nominated Robert Raymar to the seat, but that nomination was never given a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Raymar"s nomination expired at the end of that year. Clinton chose not to renominate Raymar to the Third Circuit seat during the next congressional term, and elected instead to nominate Barry.
Barry was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on September 13, 1999, and received her commission on September 22, 1999.
"I am deeply honored and very grateful for the nomination," Barry told the New Jersey Law Journal in 1999. "I am surprised I was approached on lieutenant I assume that my record is good enough as a district court judge to be reached out to, and I"m glad that politics weren"t a priority here."
Barry"s reputation on the bench was that of a tough judge with strong command of her courtroom.
In 1989, while a district court judge in Essex County, New Jersey, she disapproved a plea bargaining deal that would have freed two county detectives accused of protecting a drug dealer, and forced the case to trial, where the detectives were convicted and received jail terms.
In January 2006, Barry testified in support of the appointment of fellow Third Circuit Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. On June 30, 2011, Barry assumed senior status and was ultimately succeeded by Judge Patty Shwartz.
Fellow American Bar Foundation. Member American Bar Association, New Jersey Bar Association, American Judicature Society (board directors), Association Federal Bar State of New York (president 1982-1983).
Married John Jay Barry, December 26, 1982. 1 child, David W. Desmond.