Background
Barrett, James Emmett was born on April 8, 1922 in Lusk, Wyoming, United States. Son of Frank A. and Alice C. (Donoghue) Barrett.
Barrett, James Emmett was born on April 8, 1922 in Lusk, Wyoming, United States. Son of Frank A. and Alice C. (Donoghue) Barrett.
Student, University Wyoming, 1940—1942. Bachelor of Laws, University Wyoming, 1949. Student, St. Catherine's College, Oxford, England, 1945.
Student, Catholic University America, 1946.
As a teenager he wrote for the "Lusk Herald" and The Denver Post. He served in the United States Army during World World War II from 1942 to 1945. He received an Bachelor of Laws from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 1949.
He was in private practice in Lusk from 1949 to 1967, serving as a prosecuting attorney in Lusk from 1951 to 1962, and as a town attorney from 1954 to 1956.
He was a Secretary-treasurer of Niobrara County Republican Central Committee from 1950 to 1966, and the attorney for the Niobrara Consolidated School District from 1952 to 1962. He became the Wyoming Attorney General from 1967 to 1971.
On March 25, 1971, Barrett was nominated by President Richard Nixon to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit vacated by John Jay Hickey. Barrett was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 21, 1971, and received his commission on April 23, 1971.
He assumed senior status on April 8, 1987.
Barrett died on November 7, 2011 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He is interred at Lusk Cemetery in Lusk, Wyoming.
Active Boy Scouts American. Secretary-treasurer Niobrara County Republican CentralCom. Trustee St. Joseph's Children's Home, Torrington, Wyoming, 1971-1985.
Served as corporal Army of the United States, 1942-1945, European Theatre of Operations. Member Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Order of Coif (honorary member Wyoming College Law/U. Wyo.chpt.).
Married Carmel Ann Martinez, October 8, 1949. Children: Ann Catherine Barrett Sandahl, Richard James, John Donoghue.