Barry P. Goode (born April 11, 1948) is a judge in

Contra Costa County ) of the San Francisco Bay , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = California , subdivision_type2 ...

, California, and a former federal judicial nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Early life and education

A New York native, Goode earned a bachelor's degree magna cum laude and

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

from

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is se ...

in 1969. He earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree cum laude from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1972.http://governor.ca.gov/state/govsite/gov_htmlprint.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0093756379.1230686606@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccccadegdidkejicfngcfkmdffidfnf.0&iOID=53122&sSubCat=null&sCatTitle=Press+Release&sTitle=GOVERNOR+DAVIS+ANNOUNCES+APPOINTMENT+TO+CONTRA+COSTA+COUNTY+COURT+11%2F11%2F2003&sFilePath=%2Fgovsite%2Fpress_release%2F2003_11%2F20031111_A03335_BARRY_GOODE.html

Professional career

Goode's first job out of law school was as a special assistant to US Senator

Adlai Stevenson III Adlai Ewing Stevenson III (October 10, 1930 – September 6, 2021) was an American attorney and politician of the Democratic Party who represented Illinois in the United States Senate from 1970 until 1981. A member of the prominent Stevenson fami ...

of Illinois, from 1972 to 1974, when Goode then joined the San Francisco law firm McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen (now

Bingham McCutchen Bingham McCutchen LLP was a global law firm with approximately 850 attorneys in nine US offices and five international offices. It ceased operations in late 2014, when several hundred of its partners and associate lawyers left the firm to join Phi ...

), where he rose to become a partner. Throughout his 27-year career at the firm, he specialized in representing large corporations in environmental litigation. He also worked as an adjunct instructor of environmental law at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

.End of the Month
Goode left the firm in 2001 to join California state government.

Nomination to Ninth Circuit

US President Bill Clinton nominated Goode to the Ninth Circuit on June 24, 1998, to replace Charles Edward Wiggins, who had taken

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

. With the

US Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

under Republican control until the end of the

Clinton administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Re ...

, Goode's nomination languished, with no hearing scheduled or

US Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...

vote for him. Despite support for him from both of California's senators,

Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she was ...

and

Barbara Boxer Barbara Sue Boxer (née Levy; born November 11, 1940) is an American politician and lobbyist who served in the United States Senate, representing California from 1993 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the U.S. ...

, Goode's nomination was held up by one anonymous senator, who had placed a hold on his nomination for unexplained reasons. Clinton renominated Goode on January 26, 1999 and again on January 3, 2001. On March 19, 2001, however, US President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

withdrew 62 executive and judicial nominations, including Goode's made by Clinton in his final days as president. Goode's nearly three-year nomination remains the fourth-longest federal appeals-court judicial nominations that was never given a full Senate vote, behind those of Helene White,

Henry Saad Henry William Saad (born June 1948, in Detroit, Michigan)Resume
at US Dept of Justice website is a Terrence Boyle Terrence William Boyle (born December 22, 1945) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. He was Chief Judge of that court from 1997 to 2004. He served a second term as Chief ...

. In April 2003, Bush nominated

Carlos Bea Carlos Tiburcio Bea (born April 18, 1934) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He was appointed to that court by President George W. Bush in 2003 to replace Judge Charles Edward Wi ...

to the Ninth Circuit seat to which Goode had been nominated. Bea was confirmed by the

in September 2003.

Work for California governor

On February 1, 2001, California Governor

Gray Davis Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 to 2003. In 2003, only a few months into his second term, Davis was recalled and remov ...

named Goode as his secretary of legal affairs. Goode called the post an "important job" in a newspaper interview with the ''

Metropolitan News-Enterprise ''Metropolitan News-Enterprise'', also known as ''MetNews'' or ''Met News'', is a small daily legal newspaper published in Los Angeles, California. History The ''Enterprise'' newspaper was founded in 1901 and the ''Metropolitan News'' in 1945. ...

'' that was published on February 2, 2001. "I'm the kind of person who looks forward, not backward," he told the paper in reference to his expired federal judicial nomination. During his time working for Davis, Goode was the point person during two controversies. One involved a $95 million software contract with

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. The company sells da ...

and

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...

that state officials rescinded in 2002 after critics charged that it would cost the state millions of dollars, instead of generating the promised $100 million in savings. The other controversy involved power generator

Duke Energy Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Overview Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy owns 58,200 megawatts of base-load and peak generation in ...

, which was accused of gouging California in 2001.

Appointment to Contra County Superior Court

On November 11, 2003, just days before he left office after a recall vote, Davis appointed Goode to serve on the

Contra Costa County Superior Court The Contra Costa County Superior Court, officially known as the Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa, is the branch of the California Superior Court with jurisdiction over Contra Costa County. It has four courthouses: Martinez, ...

.Sacramento Bee - California Insider
Goode's courtroom is in Martinez, California, the seat of

Contra Costa County ) of the San Francisco Bay , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = California , subdivision_type2 ...

Personal life

Goode lives in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and has taught environmental law at the

University of San Francisco School of Law The University of San Francisco School of Law (USF Law) is the law school of the private University of San Francisco. Established in 1912, it received American Bar Association accreditation in 1935 and joined the Association of American Law Sc ...

References

External links

Contra Costa County Superior Court
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goode, Barry P. 1948 births Living people California lawyers Harvard Law School alumni Kenyon College alumni