Education and Early Career
Sexton graduated from Brooklyn Prep, a Jesuit high school, in 1959 (it closed in 1972). He holds a B.A. in history (1963), an M.A. in comparative religion (1965), a Ph.D. in history of American religion (1978) from Fordham University, as well as a J.D. (1979) magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was Supreme Court Editor of the Harvard Law Review.
From 1966 to 1975, he taught religion at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, NY, where he was chair of the Religion Department.
From 1961 to 1975, Sexton coached the debate team at St. Brendan's High School, a Catholic girls' school in Brooklyn, NY, leading the team to five national championships and numerous invitational titles. He was named to the National Forensic League Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2005, the Barkley Forum at Emory University presented him with a Golden Anniversary Coaching Award recognizing him as a top high school debate coach of the past 50 years. Still an avid proponent of interscholastic debate, he is chairman of the board of ALOUD, the Associated Leaders of Urban Debate, which seeks to bring debate activities to underserved communities in America's urban areas
After graduating from Harvard Law School, he clerked for Harold Leventhal (judge) and David L. Bazelon of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1979-80, and he clerked for Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger in 1980-81.
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