James E. Baker

James E. Baker
James Baker in 2014
Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
In office September 19, 2000 – July 31, 2015
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Andrew S. Effron
Succeeded by	Charles E. Erdmann
Personal details
Born	(1960-03-25) March 25, 1960 (age 61) New Haven, Connecticut
Alma mater	Yale University Yale Law School

James E. Baker (born March 25, 1960)^[1] is the former Chief Judge to the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.^[2] He was appointed to the Court on September 19, 2000, and became its Chief Judge upon the expiration of Andrew S. Effron's term in September, 2011. On June 22, 2016, President Barack Obama appointed Baker to the Public Interest Declassification Board.^[3]

Early life and education[]

Baker was born in New Haven, Connecticut and grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He graduated from Yale College in 1982 and Yale Law School in 1990.^[4]

Career[]

Following college Baker served in the Marine Corps as an Infantry officer. He resigned from the Reserves as an Infantry officer upon joining the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. Judge Baker has also served as a legislative aide and Acting Chief of Staff to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

In the Office of the Legal Advisor, U.S. Department of State, he provided legal advice on law enforcement, intelligence, and counter-terrorism issues and served as counsel to delegations to various environmental negotiations. Judge Baker's civil service also includes posts as Deputy Legal Advisor to the National Security Council (1994-1997) and as Counsel to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and Intelligence Oversight Board (1993). From 1997 to 2000, he was Special Assistant to the President and Legal Advisor to the National Security Council (NSC). At the NSC, Judge Baker advised the President, the National Security Advisor and the National Security Council staff on national security law.

Baker is the recipient of the 1999 Colonel Nelson Drew Award. That award, the NSC's highest honor, recognizes "distinguished contributions to the formation of peaceful, cooperative relationships between states, and U.S. security policy for global peace." He is also a recipient of the "Director's Award", given by the Director of Central Intelligence as recognition for "superior contributions in the fields of intelligence and national security". In 2009, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College awarded Judge Baker the honorary degree of Master of Military Art and Science.

Baker is a member of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security, as well as the editorial board of the Journal of National Security Law & Policy.

Baker has previously taught at Georgetown University Law Center and the University of Iowa College of Law, and as well as Yale Law School and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.^[5][6]

He joined the faculty of the Syracuse University College of Law and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs as a professor at in Fall 2018.^[4] Baker was also appointed the Director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, succeeding William C. Banks, who founded the Institute in 2003.^[7]

Writings[]

• Regulating covert action. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. 1992. ISBN 9780300176940. OCLC 26307724.
• In the Common Defense: National Security Law for Perilous Times (Hardback). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. May 2007. ISBN 9780521877633. OCLC 862759513.
• The Centaur's Dilemma: National Security Law for the Coming AI Revolution. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. December 2020. ISBN 9780815738008. OCLC 1110685320.

References[]

External links[]

• Institute for National Security & Counterterrorism at Syracuse University

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