The Honorable Judge Norma Jennings, New York State’s first Black and lesbian civil court judge, was sworn in on Jan. 30 in Brooklyn.
Judge Jennings ascended to Kings County’s Sixth Municipal Court from the Housing Court circuit, most recently as a supervising judge in New York County. She ran for the district seat twice in the past before finally winning the vote with substantial support from fellow Brooklyn district leaders.
“It’s been a long time coming, so I’m happy it’s here,” Judge Jennings said ahead of the event. She stood outside the lecture hall to greet attendees, including New York State Attorney General Letitia James and Brooklyn Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, as they filed in for the ceremony.
“And I’ll be happy when it’s over,” she joked.
The induction ceremony at Brooklyn Law School hosted a packed audience encompassing people from all corners of Judge Jennings’ life, including family, law school professors, and countless peers in the New York judiciary system.
The speaker program focused on the importance of Judge Jennings’ rise through the judicial ranks during a fraught political era, as well as on Judge Jennings herself.
“She’s amazing, she’s a human being, and she’s fierce,” Bichotte Hermelyn said in her remarks. “You are an example of who we are.”
James delivered a powerful speech about the need for someone as compassionate and diligent as Judge Jennings during a time when Brooklyn’s marginalized populations need her the most.
“Her ascendancy is a symbol of our progress as a city and as a nation,” James said. “I know she will defend everyone’s right to live as their true selves.”
James continued, “We must not retreat from holding onto that universal truth: That no one is above the law.”
Judge Jennings was officially sworn in by Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for the New York City Courts Adam Silvera. Following the induction, Judge Jennings thanked the crowd and urged everyone to keep fighting for justice, especially as the White House continues to roll out harmful executive orders.
“I give everyone a challenge this evening,” she said, “Because [Attorney General James] can’t be the only one out there fighting for us. We need to stand up for her, we need to stand up for ourselves — because they’re gonna come after her, and everyone who is going to challenge them.”
Judge Jennings achieved another historic first in the past alongside her wife, Judge Juliet Howard, when they became the first married lesbian couple appointed to the same court in New York.
“You may recall that I called her my Judge Boo,” Judge Howard said during her remarks to her wife. “She has now been elevated to my Civil Court Judge Boo.”
Judge Jennings was sworn in less than two years after Judge Seth Marnin rose to the New York Court of Claims, making him the first out trans man to serve as a judge in the US — and New York’s first out trans judge. The first out gay member of the New York Court of Appeals, Judge Paul Feinman, died in 2021 at the age of 61.
Judge Jennings’ district encompasses parts of Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, Flatbush, and Kensington. She is a Columbia University graduate and lives in Brooklyn with her wife and two sons, Jordan and Nicholas.
