He went on to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and from Columbia Law School with a Juris Doctor.

As part of his research, Banzhaf sought to register copyrights on two programs he had written: one in printed form, and the other recorded on magnetic tape.

[13] One year later, he testified at a congressional hearing at which he urged, ultimately successfully, that the long-awaited revision of US copyright law should expressly recognize computer and data processing issues.

[22] Five students in Banzhaf’s public interest law class took on an environmental case that set U.S. Supreme Court precedent on “standing” in 1973, persisting for over 50 years.

United States v. Students Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures (SCRAP) was also the first full court consideration of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

[2] In late 1966, John Banzhaf asked a local television station, WCBS-TV, to provide air time for announcements against smoking.

[25] The FCC's fairness doctrine required broadcasters to provide free air time to opposing views of matters of public controversy.

[29] In particular, Banzhaf has criticized the contracts for soft drink machines in schools and McDonald's, alleging that both have helped to contribute to childhood obesity.

[22] Obesity and McDonald's were discussed in the 2004 film Super Size Me by Morgan Spurlock, in which Banzhaf is repeatedly interviewed.

[10] Banzhaf filed a motion requesting that the federal government appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the role of the White House in what became known as the Watergate scandal.

American University history professor Allan Lichtman stated that Banzhaf "was the first to seriously raise the issue in a public way.

He certainly put it in the minds of members of Congress and was a contributing factor," despite that the motion was denied, in establishing a path for the appointment of future special prosecutors, which then led to the resignation of Richard Nixon.

In 1981, a judge ruled that "Mr. Agnew had no lawful right to this money under any theory," and ordered restitution as $147,500 in bribes and $101,235 in interest.

In 2006, Ezra Levant wrote in the National Post, "Banzhaf was the health-law strategist who destroyed the concept of personal responsibility when it came to smoking.

The first was a gender-discrimination lawsuit in response to President John H. Garvey's decision to implement same sex dorms on campus.

Later in 2011, Banzhaf filed a complaint with the DC Office of Human Rights claiming Muslim students were being discriminated against because of lack of adequate prayer space.

Adrian Brune wrote in American Lawyer (2005) that Banzhaf had had conflicts with the Frontiers of Freedom Institute,[22] which operated a website, banzhafwatch.com,[22] with the slogan "Keeping an eye on the man who wants to sue America," until mid-2006.