Brooklyn Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke on Saturday honored five outstanding black women judges in Brooklyn, concluding the all-day 3rd Annual Shirley Chisholm Women’s Empowerment Conference at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn.
Clarke’s mother, the trail-blazing, former New York City Councilwoman Una Clarke, head of the conference’s organizing group, Black Women for Fairness, Equity and Justice, presented the Congressional citations on behalf of the congresswoman.
The judges honored were: L. Priscilla Hall, Sylvia Hinds-Radix, Sylvia G. Ash, Cheryl E. Chambers and Sharen D. Hudson.
Prior to her election in 1993 to New York Supreme Court, Justice Hall served on the New York City Criminal Court, having been appointed by Mayor Edward I. Koch in 1986 and re-appointed to a 10-year term by Mayor David Dinkins, three years later.
In 1990, Gov. Mario Cuomo appointed Justice Hall to the Court of Claims.
Justice Hall received her undergraduate degree from Howard University in 1968.
After graduating Magna Cum Laude with the distinction of being a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, she pursued a Master of Science degree from Columbia University School of Journalism, graduating in 1969.
She received her Juris Doctorate degree from Columbia University School of Law in 1973.
Barbadian-born Justice Sylvia Hinds-Radix was appointed Administrative Judge for Civil Matters in the Second Judicial District in May, 2009.
In this role, she oversees both the New York State Supreme Court, Civil Term and the New York City Civil Court, which also encompasses the Housing Court of the City of New York.
Justice Hinds-Radix, whose husband is Grenadian-born dentist Joe Radix, was elected to the Supreme Court, Kings County in November of 2004 and served as a New York City Civil Court Judge, from 2002 through 2004, spending her first year in the Criminal Court of Kings County.
Justice Hinds-Radix earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts, her Master’s degree in Political Science from Long Island University, and her Jurist Doctorate degree from Howard University School of Law.
Justice Sylvia G. Ash, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago to Vincentian and Grenadian parents, is a judge of the Kings County Supreme Court in the 2nd Judicial District of New York.
She was elected to this position on Nov. 2, 2010, effective Jan. 1, for a 14-year term, ending on Dec. 31, 2024.
Justice Ash received her B.A. degree from State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1978 and her Juris Doctorate degree from the Howard University School of Law in 1984. She was admitted to the Bar in 1985.
Justice Ash was elected to the Kings County Civil Court in 2005 and took office in 2006. She served there until she joined the Supreme Court in 2011.
Justice Cheryl E. Chambers sits on the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department.
She was appointed to this division by Gov. Spitzer in February 2008 to a term that expired in 2013.
Chamber’s current 14-year term as State Supreme Court Justice will expire on Dec. 31, 2026.
Justice Chambers holds a B.A. degree from Brooklyn College (1973), a J.D. (Juris Doctorate) degree from Boston University School of Law (1976), and a Master’s in Business Administration degree from Rutgers Graduate School of Management (1984).
Justice Sharen D. Hudson serves on the New York City Civil Court in Kings County. She was elected to the court in 2011, and her term expires in 2021.
Justice Hudson defeated Housing Court Judge Cheryl Gonzales in the Sept. 13 Democratic primary election with 62.1 percent of the vote.
Justice Hudson was elected to one of two open seats in the Nov. 8 general election, winning 41.89 percent of the vote.
Raised in the Red Hook community of Brooklyn, Justice Hudson obtained a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
She began as a court officer within the New York State Unified Court System, and enrolled in Brooklyn Law School, where she obtained her Juris Doctorate.
Photo by Nelson A. King
