1945-2021
Betty Lester was the first African American woman Presiding Judge in Essex County and the 2nd African American female judge appointed to Superior Court of New Jersey.
Betty Lester was born as Betty Joan Johnson in Pennsylvania. She attended Howard University and Rutgers Law School. After graduation she worked in Public Defenders Office. In 1977 she was appointed a Newark Municipal Court Judge at age 31. In 1985 she was appointed to the Superior Court of the State of New Jersey, for Essex County, and served as a Presiding Judge for Essex County within the Superior Court system.
In 1985 she said, “This is a very special day for me, I have been attempting to deserve this for a very long time.”
Later in her career she became a Presiding Judge of the Superior Court, Criminal Division, retiring in 2009. She was a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association, the Essex County Bar Association, and the National Association of Women Judges.
Bibliography
Kukla, Barbara. Defying the Odds.
Rutgers Law 1971 Yearbook
Leusner, Donna “Black women saluted…” Star Ledger Mar 31, 1985
Novellino, Tex and Terrell, Stanley, “Gibson moves on 5 judgeships” Star Ledger May 27, 1977