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Chief Justice Barajas is a former faculty member of the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada, where he was an instructor on the use of information technology. In addition, he has served on the board of the National Organization for Victims Assistance, an organization which provides national advocacy for victims of crime, direct services those crime victims when not otherwise available, and assistance to professional colleagues. A nationally recognized lecturer on the proper balancing of the constitutional rights between the criminal defendant and the intended victim, Chief Justice Barajas was honored by the President of the United States at a White House ceremony as a national recipient of the Presidential Award for Victim Services. In addition, he is a frequent lecturer on topics relating to judicial ethics, educational leadership and mentoring, the applicability of federal constitutional protections to the parochial school setting, the separation of church and state (as it relates to the issue of school vouchers), and various aspects of educational management.
Chief Justice Barajas is a current board member of the National Organization for Victim Assistance, and the National Victims Constitutional Amendment Network. He has served as a board member of the National Crime Victim's Institute and as a member of the National Victim's Center, the Texas Council on Family Violence, and Texans War on Drugs. He previously served on the State Bar of Texas Judicial Ethics Committee, the Appellate Judges Legislative Committee, the Appellate Advocacy Section, and the Crime Victims and Witnesses Committee. In addition, he served as an appointee to the Texas Judicial Council, the Texas Supreme Court Gender Bias Implementation Committee, the Texas Supreme Court Commission on Judicial Efficiency, its task forces on Information Technology as well as Judicial Selection. He was chair of the Texas Appellate Court Technology Committee for over ten years. He has been a member of the National District Attorney's Association, the National Criminal Justice Association, and the Texas District and County Attorneys' Association. Currently, he is a member of the National Hispanic Bar Association, National Association of Latino Elected Officials, the Mexican-American Bar Association of Texas.
Since his retirement from elected judicial service, Chief Justice Barajas has moved into academia where he currently holds the position of Assistant Principal, as well as the Director, Center for Advanced Studies at his alma mater, Cathedral High School. Chief Justice Barajas is an instructor of Political Science, teaching both GOVT 2305 American Government and Politics, and GOVT 2306 State and Local Government. In addition, he is an instructor of Education, teaching EDUC 1300, Mastering Academic Excellence as well as Fundamentals of Criminal Law.
The Chief and his wife Cathy Jean make their home in El Paso. They have four children, Melanie Getiņah, a graduate of Baylor University, son Brian Robert, a 2000 graduate of Cathedral High School and a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso; son Richard Edward, a 2003 graduate of Cathedral High School and likewise a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso; and son Tyler Spurgin, of Marfa, Texas
Voice: (915) 532-3238
Fax: (915) 533-8248
Email: rbarajas71@cathedral-elpaso.org
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