Barry is centennial professor of law emeritus, University of Minnesota Law School, where he taught from 1972 to 2016. His research and scholarship draw on developmental psychology and focus on adolescents' culpability and youth sentencing policy; adolescents' competence to exercise procedural rights including waivers of Miranda rights and the right to counsel; and racial and gender disparities in juvenile justice administration. Barry received his B.A. from University of Pennsylvania, his J.D. from University of Minnesota Law School, and his Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University.