Lawrence W. Pierce

Judge Lawrence Pierce (born December 31, 1924) is an American lawyer who served for 24 years as a federal judge.

A native of Philadelphia, Pierce attended St. Joseph's University and Fordham Law School. As a lawyer, Pierce worked as a public defender in New York City and then served as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn. From 1961 to 1963, he was a deputy commissioner of the New York City Police Department. From 1963 to 1966, Pierce was director of the New York City Division for Youth, and from 1966 to 1970, he was director of the New York State Narcotic Control Commission.

In 1971, President Richard Nixon named Pierce to serve as a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. After Pierce served as a district judge for ten years, in 1981, President Ronald Reagan promoted him to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Pierce became the third African-American to serve on the Second Circuit, following Thurgood Marshall and Amalya L. Kearse.

Pierce assumed senior status on the Second Circuit in 1990. In 1995, Pierce retired from the federal judiciary in order to travel abroad and become active in a project to bring law and democracy to Cambodia.

Early years

Pierce was born in Philadelphia, PA. His mother, Mary Leora Bellinger Pierce. died of pneumonia when he was five years old and Pierce was raised with his stepmother Vi Pierce and his father Harold Pierce Sr. Judge Pierce and his older brother Dr. Harold E. Pierce Jr. were separated and only reunited at their paternal grandparents house Lillian A Willets Pierce and Warren Wood Pierce, on holidays. Pierce was married twice; first to Wilma Lorina Taylor. The couple had three sons, Warren, Michael and Mark. Warren and Michael followed in their father's footsteps and became attorneys, Mark works with the Catholic Services overseas. Pierce has four granddaughters and two grandsons. After his first wife's passing, Judge Pierce married his present wife Cynthia. She is a retired attorney and Columbia University professor. They live in Sag Harbor, New York.

Genealogy search

Judge Pierce dedicated several years researching his family history and traced his lineage to the 18th century where he discovered he is a descendant of a Black Revolutionary War hero Adam Pierce and Richard Pierce who married Dutch sisters Anna and Hannah Van Acka Pierce. Because of his historic lineage, he joined the Sons of the American Revolution. This family comes from the famed Gouldtown, New Jersey, which was one of the first interracial townships in America.

For consecutive years, Ebony Magazine listed Pierce as one of the 50 most influential African Americans in the United States.

Sources

• Lawrence W. Pierce at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.