Anita Josey-Herring

Anita Josey-Herring was born in Portsmouth, Virginia and raised in the Tidewater area.  She received a B.A. degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia in 1982, and a Juris Doctorate in 1987 from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.

              While attending Georgetown Law Center’s Evening Division, Judge Josey-Herring was a member of the Legal Ethics Law Journal and was employed full-time as a paralegal specialist at the United States Department of Labor (DOL) from 1984-1985.  In that capacity, she reviewed complaints filed by DOL employees concerning disparate treatment in the work place and made recommendations for handling those cases.  Between 1985-1987, Judge Josey-Herring worked as a law clerk in the United States Department of Energy Solicitor’s Office and investigated violations of Department of Energy regulations by oil companies falsely claiming small refiner entitlement bias benefits.

              Upon graduating from Georgetown in 1987, she obtained a judicial clerkship position with the Honorable Herbert B. Dixon, Jr. in the D.C. Superior Court. As a judicial clerk, she worked on a variety of civil law issues including family law, contract disputes, and landlord and tenant issues.

              In 1988, Judge Josey-Herring joined the District of Columbia Public Defender Service as a staff attorney.  While in the trial division, she handled a heavy caseload and litigated juvenile, misdemeanor and felony cases in the Superior Court and supervised less senior staff attorneys.  She also served in the Public Defender Service’s appellate division arguing cases before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

              In 1994, while handling serious felonies and homicide cases, Judge Josey-Herring was appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Public Defender Service to the position of Deputy Director of the agency.  As Deputy Director, Judge Josey-Herring assisted the Director in all aspects of management and administration, including budgetary decision-making and supervision of agency staff.  She also directly supervised the Investigations Divisions, the Prisoner Rights Program, and the Criminal Justice Act Office that is responsible for coordinating the appointment of counsel in all criminal cases in the District of Columbia.  In addition, she administered the agency’s grant funded programs and coordinated the attorney and law clerk hiring programs.  She also monitored the agency’s personnel policies for compliance with personnel law and handled personnel matters along with the Director.  In addition, she testified before the District of Columbia City Council on proposed criminal law legislation and other matters. 

              Over the last several years, Judge Josey-Herring has been a guest lecturer at Howard Law School, Georgetown Law Center, the Columbus School of Law, and the Washington College of Law at the American University and a guest faculty member in Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop in 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006 and 2007.  She was also a faculty member at the National Legal Aid and Defender Training Conference in 1994 and the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) at Georgetown Law Center in 1997, 1999, 2000, and 2003.  Additionally, she lectured and provided training to local criminal law practitioners on various criminal topics at the Criminal Practice Institute.

              Judge Josey-Herring is a member of several legal organizations including the District of Columbia Bar and the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.  She is also a member of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the Lead Model Court Judge for the District’s Family Court.  She has participated in many community activities and tutored fourth and fifth grade girls at Malcolm X Elementary School in Southeast, Washington, D.C.  In 1994, she served on the Superior Court’s Task Force on Families and Violence, was a member of the Superior Court’s Domestic Violence Council and co-chaired the Treatment Subcommittee that was responsible for developing treatment plans for children, victims and batterers of domestic violence (1994-1996).

          Judge Josey-Herring was appointed as an Associate Judge to the District of Columbia Superior Court in 1997.  As an Associate Judge, she has served in the Criminal and Family Divisions of the court and handled hundreds of trials, motions and other case related matters.  In September 2000, Judge Josey-Herring was appointed by the Chief Judge of the District of Columbia Superior Court to serve as Deputy Presiding Judge of the Family Division, now the Family Court .  Judge Josey-Herring served as the Deputy Presiding Judge of the Family Court from September 2000 until December 2005. The Family Court is a multi-jurisdictional court and includes the following branches:  Adoptions, Domestic Relations, Juvenile, Neglect and Abuse, Marriage Bureau, Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Paternity and Support.   Judge Josey-Herring has handled juvenile, mental health, domestic relations, paternity and support, neglect and abuse and adoption matters.

           As the Deputy Presiding Judge, she and the Presiding Judge of the Family Court managed the daily affairs of that court, including 30 other judges assigned to the Family Court.  Moreover, Judge Josey-Herring, the Presiding Judge and key judicial and executive office staff handled legislative matters affecting the Family Court.  Judge Josey-Herring played a significant leadership role in the reorganization and transition of the Family Division to the Family Court by implementing the requirements of the Family Court Act of 2001. Judge Josey-Herring also led numerous initiatives to improve the quality of justice and service to litigants and attorneys alike.  Judge Josey-Herring led the initiative to develop the Family Treatment Court, a highly regarded court program, which provides services to mothers who were adjudicated of neglecting their children and are substance abusers.  Program services include drug treatment, housing, mental health treatment, parenting classes, educational and medical services.  Children of Family Treatment Court participants are also provided educational, medical and other necessary services to address their needs. Judge Josey-Herring presided over the Family Treatment Court calendar from its' inception and worked collaboratively with District agencies to develop the program and coordinate the delivery of services provided by government agencies, private organizations and non-profits for parents and children in the program.  Prior to the establishment of the Family Treatment Court, Judge Josey-Herring also presided over the Juvenile Drug Court for two years. In that role, she collaborated with District officials to obtain detoxification treatment for drug-addicted youth who were not able to break the cycle of drug use without such intervention.

          In her role as Deputy Presiding Judge, Judge Josey-Herring also chaired the Family Court's Juvenile Subcommittee for four years.  Under her leadership, the subcommittee developed attorney practice standards for counsel representing juveniles charged with acts of delinquency or as persons In Need of Supervision (PINS).  The practice standards were adopted by the Chief Judge and formalized in an administrative order and are, in part, the basis by which the court annually evaluates attorneys handling juvenile cases.  Also through the Juvenile Subcommittee, Judge Josey-Herring initiated the establishment of the Juvenile Sex Offender Program, which is managed and operated by the Court Social Services Division of the Family Court.  The program was created to address of the growing number of very youthful offenders charged with sex offenses or inappropriate physical contact with other children.  The Juvenile Sex Offender Program engages the youth and parents of the offender and employs a behavior modification approach designed to reduce recidivism. 

          Also, under Judge Josey-Herring’s leadership, the Juvenile Subcommittee drafted proposed juvenile rules to implement the Omnibus Juvenile Justice Act of 2004.  The Act substantially changed substantive and procedural law affecting juveniles in the District of Columbia and the proposed rules were drafted to reflect the new laws and provide guidance for practitioners, judges and lawyers in the implementation and use of that law.    

           Judge Josey-Herring also chaired the committee that reviewed the Family Court's compliance with the Adoptions and Safe Families Act (ASFA).  The committee developed form court orders that would assist the court to increase compliances with the legal requirements of ASFA.  The form court orders were later adopted by the Chief Judge through an administrative order and are utilized by Family Court judges in neglect and abuse proceedings.  Use of those court orders has resulted in a significant increase in the court’s compliance with federal and local ASFA.  This has been critical given congressional oversight of the District of Columbia Courts and congressional monitoring of the activities of the Family Court.

          To address the educational needs of more than 4,000 children who are referred to the Family Court each year, with the assistance of the Friends of the Superior Court, Judge Josey-Herring implemented a books program in the Family Court.  The "Hooked on Books Program" makes books readily available to children and caretakers.  Each Family Court Judge is encouraged to give books to families at every court hearing.  A variety of organizations and members of the public donate the books to this program.  The distribution of books adds to family-friendly environment in the Family Court and encourages reading amongst court users.

         From 2004-2006, Judge Josey-Herring led a Truancy Prevention Program at Kramer Middle School in Southeast, Washington D.C. Since 2007, Judge Josey-Herring has led the Truancy Prevention Program at Garnett Patterson Middle School in Northwest, Washington D.C. During the school year, the judge meets with the youth and their families weekly in the selected school for 10 to 12-weeks to promote school attendance and improved grades among youth in the program. Judge Josey-Herring has also chaired the District’s Truancy Task Force since 2006 which coordinates other truancy efforts in the District of Columbia.

          In January 2006, the Chief Judge appointed Judge Josey-Herring to the position of Presiding Judge of the Family Court. As Presiding Judge of the Family Court, Judge Josey-Herring is responsible for the operations of the Family Court along with the Deputy Presiding Judge.  During her tenure as Presiding Judge, several Family Court initiatives have been launched. In 2007, the Family Court piloted the Program for Agreement and Cooperation (PAC) in Domestic Relations contested custody cases which provides parents and children with counseling and education in order to reduce parental discord and protect children’s well being. In the PAC Program, mental health professionals counsel parents about the adverse impact of conflict on their children. Also, in simultaneous but separate sessions, participating children receive psychological support to address emotional issuing arising out of contested custody disputes.

        Also in 2007, the Family Court established the Fathering Court Program to prepare parents, who are leaving prison and have outstanding child support arrears, to become contributing and involved parental figures in their children’s lives. District and federal agencies provide substance abuse treatment and educational training to participants to ready them for the workforce. Parents in the program are also provided an array of social services to address underlying problems which compromise their ability to parent and pay child support. Working with District services providers, the court monitors and enforces outstanding child support arrears and holds participants accountable as they increase their able to pay child support.

         Also during Judge Josey-Herring’s tenure as Presiding Judge, the Neglect and Abuse Subcommittee focused on children’s educational needs, preparing older teens for adulthood, and producing a neglect and abuse practice guide. The Education Workgroup of the Neglect and Abuse Subcommittee developed an Education Checklist to measure key educational benchmarks of children in the neglect and abuse systems. The educational checklist is designed to focus judges, attorneys and social workers on the child’s educational status and enable stakeholders to begin educational planning and advocacy on the child’s behalf.

         The Preparing Youth for Adulthood program (PYA) was also piloted in 2007 to assist teenagers in the neglect and abuse system with planning towards their independence. Participating youth actively engage with the PYA calendar judge to develop a plan that focuses on life skills, education, employment, health and other needs. PYA also identifies individuals in the child’s life who are willing to make a long-term commitment and play a supportive role in their future. Additionally, members of the Bench book Workgroup also produced a comprehensive bench book for judges handling neglect and abuse cases. The bench book covers a wide variety of topics, including legal and psycho-social issues and is a best practice guide for judges handling child welfare cases.

         Moreover, during Judge Josey-Herring’s tenure, the Family Court also implemented numerous projects focusing on youth in the delinquency system. Utilizing Family Court appropriations and grant funding, the Family Court’s Social Services  Division (CSS) opened a Drop-In Center in Southeast Washington in 2007, making supervision and services more accessible to youth in that community. Participating youth are supervised by probation officers and receive individual or family counseling, tutoring, and are involved in recreational and other activities developed by CSS and District partners. In 2008, CSS will also open a similar community Drop-In-Center for juveniles in the delinquency system in Northeast Washington, D.C. 

          Also, In 2007 and 2008, Judge Josey-Herring and the Chief Judge worked with District officials to develop a memorandum of understanding addressing case processing standards in juvenile cases in order to decrease the amount of time between initial hearing, trial and disposition. The agreement also required child serving agencies to provide the court with evaluations and assessments of a juvenile that were completed within the previous twelve months for use at disposition.  The ability to access existing evaluations and assessments reduces the time between adjudication and sentencing and eliminates duplicative assessments.

          Since 2006, Judge Josey-Herring has chaired the Juvenile Detentions Alternative Initiative (JDAI), which aims to develop community-based alternatives to detention for low and moderate level offenders. In 2005, prior to becoming the chair JDAI, Judge Josey-Herring chaired the Juvenile Subcommittee of JDAI.

           Judge Josey-Herring has been a member of several court committees both court-wide and in the Family Court.  She is also involved in numerous efforts to improve the community and has received many awards and recognitions.  Judge Josey-Herring also participates in several boards and commissions and her work in that regards is focused on improving the system and outcomes for children.