America’s best weekly janera solomon named Board Chair for Trade Institute of Pittsburgh Page A3
Pittsburgh Courier NEW
www.newpittsburghcourier.com Vol. 113 No. 4 Two Sections
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JANUARY 26-FEBRUARY 1, 2022
Three Black women are among Allegheny County’s newly-elected judges
JUDGE WRENNA WATSON
JUDGE TIFFANY SIZEMORE
JUDGE NICOLA HENRY-TAYLOR
Common Pleas Court now has seven Black judges by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer
Pittsburgh has seen its share of notable African American judges — Homer S. Brown, the Johnson brothers, J. Warren Watson, Cynthia Baldwin, Oscar Petite, Eddie Tibbs, Henry Smith and Walter Little, among others. But the current happenings inside the walls of the Fifth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, more commonly known as the Al-
legheny County Court of Common Pleas, is astounding for historians. There are seven Black judges among the nearly 50 total in the family, orphans, civil and criminal divisions. Prior to Nov. 2, 2021, Election Day, there were just four, but this past Election Day proved to be one for the ages for Black Pittsburgh. Overshadowed by Ed Gainey’s historic mayoral victory, the election of three new African Americans to the bench and the
re-election of another in Allegheny County holds its own weight. Wrenna Watson, Nicola Henry-Taylor and Tiffany Sizemore are the newcomers to the county’s Court of Common Pleas, while Elliot Howsie, who was nominated to the bench by Gov. Tom Wolf and confirmed by the state Senate in 2019, was elected to serve a full term. They are joined by Kim Berkeley Clark, the first Black president judge of
the Fifth Judicial District of Pa., Joseph K. Williams III and Dwayne Woodruff, as the seven Black judges
COURIER IN DEPTH in the county’s Common Pleas Court. “The legal profession is one of the least racially diverse in the United States, and the racial disparities
in Pittsburgh are some of the starkest. We cannot fully achieve and attain equal justice under the law without a racially and ethnically diverse legal profession,” Jerry Dickinson, associate professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh, told the New Pittsburgh Courier. “As a constitutional law professor, I’m extremely pleased to see the progress we made in the November judicial elections. The recent addition of Black jurists to the
state bench is a monumental achievement for Pennsylvania and its justice system, and is a testament to the progress the region is making towards diversifying the bench.” Two of the three new judges are Pittsburgh natives — Watson and Sizemore. Watson, whose father is the Honorable J. Warren Watson (one of the first elected Black judges in Allegheny County in SEE BLACK JUDGES A2
Most people tell Pittsburgh City Council they oppose Wilkinsburg annexation Public hearing was held, Jan. 11 by Charlie Wolfson PublicSource
Pittsburgh City Council held a public hearing on the potential annexation of Wilkinsburg Tuesday night, Jan. 11, its first hearing on the subject since a judge instructed the council to vote on whether to move it forward within three months. About 50 Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg residents registered to speak, and the majority told council they oppose the annexation and the path its proponents
have taken so far. “This annexation would put more money in the pockets of the haves and would hurt those of the have-nots,” said Angel Gober, executive director of OnePA and the chair of Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s transition team. The push to annex the borough of 14,000 into the city is driven by the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation [WCDC], a group unaffiliated with the government that is tasked with attracting business to Wilkins-
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burg. The group collected signatures for a petition and, following a 1903 law that guides annexation processes, presented it to a judge late last year. The judge ruled that city council must vote for or against the annexation process by April 5 — leaving no option for the council to ignore the issue altogether. If the nine-member body votes in favor, annexation goes on the ballot for Wilkinsburg voters to make a final decision. If they vote against, the matter is closed. The WCDC contends that annexation is the only way for the borough to lower its property tax rates and stop its population decline. Opponents of the annexation SEE WILKINSBURG A7
ANGEL GOBER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ONE PA