Trinidadian Wavny Toussaint making history.
Trinidadian-born jurist, Wavny Toussaint, has become the first woman and person of colour to serve as a presiding judge as New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Term, Second Department, for the 2nd, 11th and 13th Judicial Districts made history with a bench comprising all women.
The other members appointed are Associate Justices Lisa S. Ottley, of Kings County, Brooklyn, whose father hailed from Trinidad and Tobago; Marina Mundy, of Richmond County; and Lourdes Ventura and Cheree Buggs, of Queens County.
Justice Toussaint, who was elected to the New York Supreme Court in 2014 and appointed to the Appellate Term in 2020, is regarded as a jurist of “high integrity”.
The court hears appeals from the New York City Civil Court, including its Housing and Small Claims Parts, and the New York City Criminal Court.
“There have been many before me who struggled to ensure that the day would come when someone like me could step into this position, without the fanfare of being a ‘first’”, Justice Toussaint told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
“I am grateful for their struggle. I remind myself, as I move forward as the Presiding Justice, that only history will tell whether, for all litigants, I ensured prompt decisions that were just, fair and based on the law,” she added.
Justice Toussaint’s colleagues on the Appellate Term bench include Justices Buggs, who was appointed in 2021, and Ottley, who was appointed in 2023, along with Justices Mundy and Ventura.
Justice Mundy is the first woman jurist on the New York Supreme Court, Criminal Term, in Richmond County; Justice Ventura is the first Latina to be appointed to this Appellate Term; and Justice Ottley was the first African American Woman to supervise the Civil Court in Kings County.
“I’m extremely excited but more so honoured to be a part of this historic bench with the Honourable Wavny Toussaint,” Justice Ottley told CMC. “I have a great deal of respect for her and her vision for the court, as well as for my colleagues who are part of this bench.”
Last May, three Black women justices in New York including Trinidadian Michelle Weston, also created history by hearing cases together from the bench in the Appellate Term, Second Department, in the New York Supreme Court.
“Today is an historic occasion for the Appellate Term,” said Justice Weston, a lifelong Brooklyn resident, adding “I have had the honour and privilege to serve on this court for 28 years, for many of them as the only woman.
“It was just a year ago, last February 2021, when Justice Donna Golia, joined our court, that we made history with the first all-female panel. Today, we are making history once again. Today marks the first time the Appellate Term has a panel comprised of three judges that are women of colour.
“History is changing rapidly. This year, as we know, the esteemed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was appointed to the US Supreme Court. There was a sense of pride that a woman of colour who looks like the judges on this panel rose to the highest court in our country.
“In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., (the slain US civil rights leader), ‘we are not makers of history, we are made by history”, she said
Justice Buggs told CMC that she was “incredibly humbled to have been a part of such wonderful history in the state’s court system.
“My sincerest hope is that what occurred will become a norm, considering the great diversity of our city and state. I am also honoured to have accomplished history together with two colleagues with whom I have deep respect.
“This is what makes America great, its inclusivity of all of those who come from whatever place, or those who live here and all those who grew up here,” she added.
