NEW YORK, New York – The Kings County Criminal Bar Association (KCCBA) in Brooklyn, New York has bestowed its “Judge of the Year” award on Caribbean-American Justice Dena Douglas.
Justice Dena Douglas accepts the award from Kings County Criminal Bar Association (KCCBA) President Michael Sheinberg (CMC Photo)Justice Douglas, the child of a Grenadian-born father, received the Gustin L. Reichbach Judicial Recognition Award.
“To be named ‘Judge of the Year’ by this organization is a distinction I do not take lightly,” Justice Douglas told patrons in her acceptance speech, adding “I am deeply grateful”.
Justice Douglas, graduated from St. John’s University School of Law in Jamaica, Queens; and was a career prosecutor before ascending to the bench.
She said her late father, David Douglas, migrated to the United States from Carriacou, the larger of Grenada’s two sister isles, attended law school at night, became an Assistant District Attorney, and ultimately built a private practice for over two decades.
“My father taught me that a life in law is a life in service. Tonight, I accept this honour in his memory, in gratitude to all of you, and in continued commitment to the people of Kings County,” she said, noting that being a Black woman in the prosecutor’s office was often times “a difficult undertaking.
“And yet, I stayed, I fought, I built because I understood that the work mattered and that who was doing the work mattered, too.”
Justice Douglas said the same resolve carried her to the bench and still sustains her today and that the Reichbach Award extends beyond herself.
“This recognition is not just mine; it belongs to my community. It sends a message that our presence on the bench matters, that our contributions are seen, and that excellence in the service of justice knows no single face.”
Justice Douglas used the opportunity to honour the community, which, she said, has carried her childhood friends from Flatbush, her colleagues in law, her fellow judges, and mentors and sponsors.
But she reserved her most personal words for her two children, Floyd Patterson, Jr. and Noelle Patterson, acknowledging the loss her family sustained early in her judicial career.
Justice Douglas told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that her husband, Floyd Patterson, died at 50 of brain cancer in 2014. He was Trinidadian-born, of Grenadian parentage.
She said her 91-year-old mother, Doris Douglas, whose parents hailed from Carriacou, currently resides in Brooklyn.
