John J. Parker

Who was John J. Parker?

John Johnston Parker was a U.S. judge who failed confirmation to the Supreme Court by one vote. He was also the U.S. alternate judge at the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi war criminals and later served on the United Nations' International Law Commission.

John J. Parker was born in Monroe, North Carolina, the son of John Daniel and Frances Johnston Parker. He received the Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1907 and a law degree in 1908. While at the university, Parker was president of his class in his freshman and senior years, of the student council, of the athletic association, and of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He was also a member of the Dialectic Society and an intercollegiate debater. In addition, he won a number of prizes and medals.

After leaving the university, Parker practiced law in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1908–1909, and then, from 1910 until 1922, he practiced law in his hometown of Monroe. Parker married Maria Burgwin Maffitt of Wilmington, North Carolina in 1910.