Abena Darkeh ’93 is an Acting Justice of the New York Supreme Court sitting in Kings County. She was elevated to this position as of January 1, 2022, after having presided over Manhattan’s Domestic Violence Court and serving as a misdemeanor trial judge in Brooklyn Criminal Court. Judge Darkeh was appointed to the New York City Criminal Court in February 2015.
Cultural Heritage and Values
Judge Darkeh is a child of an immigrant father and a first-generation American mother. Her father, George Komla Darkeh, was born and raised in Ghana, West Africa. “He came to New York in the 1960s to attend Columbia University and to work at the United Nations,” she said. Her mother, Shirley Elise (nee Lowe) Darkeh was born in Brooklyn after her family immigrated from St. Vincent and Barbados. Judge Darkeh’s parents met a party in NYC, at the home of a UN diplomat. Two years later they married, started a family and moved to Long Island.
“I was born in the United States — Brooklyn, New York, in fact — and I am proud to be an American, but I have always understood that America is a rich and vibrant place because of all of the people, from different places, who settled here and who expressed who they are and where they came from in their everyday lives. The connection to specific ancestral homelands was part of my upbringing as evidenced in the food we ate, our cultural practices, abiding philosophies, and family bonds. At the same time, I was learning to navigate the middle class suburban American experience of growing up in Nassau County. Collectively, these influences shaped my curiosity about people and nurtured my interest in other cultures and travel. They helped instill in me a healthy respect for other people regardless of their station in life and how they come to me in my work on the bench.”
Judge Darkeh is always seeking ways to give back and have a positive impact on others. “My parents have always been busy in the community working on behalf of others,” she says. “They modeled how to be a good citizen in ways that are unique to your personality and gifts. My mother is 87 years old, and she was recently elected a trustee of the local library” in the Long Island community where Judge Darkeh grew up. “Covid has given us the opportunity to reprioritize what is important about life and to continue public service beyond your profession,” she says. “I want to think as critically as I can about other meaningful ways to contribute to society.”
“We had a rich cultural background, and my parents instilled the values derived from that background in their children,” she says. Her sister has a PhD in education and her brother is a medical doctor. “Education was very important to my parents. We are a direct representation of the values and norms they instilled in us. We proudly live the dreams and hopes they had for us.”
Law School and Early Career Experience
A career in the law was on Judge Darkeh’s radar from a young age. “I was engaged, talkative, and passionate. I had a point of view and wasn’t shy about attempting to persuade others. From very early on, people would tell me I should be a lawyer. It fit naturally with my personality,” she says.
“I graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in international relations, and I went to law school thinking I would marry my passions — international law and travel. But I learned after enrolling in the housing clinic in my third year that I was more naturally suited for litigation and courtroom related work,” she says.
“The clinic and the clients you represent help you understand the struggles people face and provides the tools you need to problem-solve their issues. These experiences gave me greater insight into the practice of law.”
Judge Darkeh likens the first few years of law school to learning a new language and learning to use new tools. “It’s all very theoretical,” she says. Her experience in the Housing Clinic at Hofstra Law was her first opportunity to put that theory into practice. “The clinic challenges you to put the theory you think you know into practice. You speak with clients, identify legal issues, and learn how to craft compelling arguments. You see how those arguments land — or don’t — and refine or change them.” The clinic experience also helped personalize and make sense of the law. “The clinic and the clients you represent help you understand the struggles people face and provides the tools you need to problem-solve their issues. These experiences gave me greater insight into the practice of law.”
After graduating from law school, Judge Darkeh worked for a solo practitioner who had a general practice, which exposed her to many areas of the law. But the bulk of the work she did was in criminal law. She left that job to become a prosecutor in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office in 1995. “That’s where I learned how to be a lawyer,” she says. “That’s where my interest was piqued. I thought, ‘This makes sense for me.’”
Judge Darkeh thought she would stay at the District Attorney’s Office and eventually become a homicide prosecutor, but in 1998 she was recruited to work for the administrative judge of the Criminal Court of the City of New York instead. “The opportunity — a newly created position designed to manage and implement the Court’s citywide Domestic Violence Intervention Plan — seemed to come out of nowhere, but I soon learned a former supervisor and executive ADA had recommended me for the position based upon her observations of my work as a domestic violence prosecutor,” she says. “The advisor believed strongly that it was an opportunity I shouldn’t miss.”
Creating a Blueprint for New York State Specialty Courts
She became a legal advisor and citywide domestic violence coordinator for the New York City Criminal Court. “It was a pivotal time,” she says. “There was a critical need for systems and institutions to better handle domestic violence cases. The 1994 federal crime bill made money available to do just that. I was responsible for designing and implementing strategies to improve the adjudication of domestic violence cases and conducting training programs for judges, court staff and stakeholders. I interfaced across agencies and developed and nurtured relationships with folks both inside and outside the courts so that everyone understood the initiative’s goals and could lend their voice to the process.” Judge Darkeh presented the court’s strategies at national domestic violence symposia and at an international conference on women’s rights in Guyana. Later, she was recruited to create and expand a statewide system of integrated domestic violence courts. “That blueprint became the model for other problem-solving courts, including mental health courts and veterans’ courts, which I helped establish across New York State,” she says.
Judge Darkeh remained with the New York State Courts for 13 years, and her experience became the foundation for her future work within New York State’s executive branch. In 2011, another mentor recommended that Judge Darkeh apply for a position with the New York State Division of Human Rights. The role would draw upon her investigative and administrative experiences. Excited about the prospect of a new challenge, Judge Darkeh applied for the job, participated in a rigorous selection process and was offered the opportunity to serve the public in a new arena.
Executive Experience
When she accepted the invitation to join the New York State Division of Human Rights (DHR) as its Deputy Commissioner for Regional Affairs in 2011, her colleagues were surprised. “No one leaves the court system,” they said. “But this was a new opportunity that would allow me to use the skills that I had developed. In the court system, I had worked collaboratively with various stakeholders, including prosecutors, defense attorneys, police, probation, service providers and others. I wanted to test my skillset in an executive position to see what it would be like to set my own goals and objectives and manage my own staff.”
“I’m proud of what I achieved at DHR. The Division had always carried a backlog of cases. It was important to the governor to improve the efficiency of state agencies, and that was my mandate at Human Rights.” In addition to managing the agency’s eleven investigative offices and overseeing their housing program, Judge Darkeh successfully implemented a case management system that eliminated the backlog by the time she left the office in 2015.
That position was another important building block to her current position. “I wasn’t a judge or a litigator in that setting, but I had an important window into how systems operate. I managed a staff that consisted of New York state residents from every part of the state, ensured the agency was fulfilling its investigative mandate and coordinated with agency executives to fine tune our practices for the betterment of litigants and the public,” she says.
Judicial Experience
“I wanted to become a judge because I wanted to make a more direct impact on individual lives.” During her time in court administration and at the Division, she “had worked at a high level and at a distance from the people the agencies served,” she said. Her judicial position has given her the opportunity to serve individuals, one on one, on a case by case basis, presiding over arraignments, hearings and trials.
Prior to her recent elevation to Supreme Court, Judge Darkeh was most recently assigned to Brooklyn’s felony waiver part, where she was charged with resolving unindicted felony cases. Following arraignment on a felony charge, a case must be presented to a grand jury for indictment or disposed of by plea, reduction to a misdemeanor or dismissed.
“Although it isn’t a trial part, I still acted as a neutral arbiter in an adversarial process. I listened to the arguments on both sides about what the law permits and decided the legal issues.” She also presided over hearings on a variety of matters, including those related to a defendant’s release, bail and orders of protection. “As of June 2021, an appellate court ruled that a defendant is entitled to a hearing if the issuance of an order of protection would deprive the person of a significant personal liberty or property interest — for example, if the defendant will be excluded from his or her home.”
“I make decisions on a daily basis that affect the lives of the people in my courtroom, the members of their families and even their extended contacts. Some matters are routine but there are also new and novel issues that arise. The variety of matters I handle is both stimulating and interesting. I am learning all day every day.”
Expanding Her Horizons
When asked what she sees for her career in the future, Judge Darkeh says, “I’m still young in my judicial career and I have yet to experience the more complex, serious high-level legal issues that arise in Supreme Court. I’m excited about my new post and I’m looking forward to the wide range of issues and cases that will come my way.”
But for now, she is “focused on doing as great a job as I can. I want to be stimulated by my work and accomplish as much as I can, while maintaining a healthy balance with my personal life. I enjoy travelling, reading, politics, and I have developed a passion for Formula 1 auto racing. A friend of mine and I have talked about blogging all things Formula 1, but that’s still in development. I’m committed to making and enjoying a variety of experiences for myself and those that I love and creating rich and vibrant memories of a life well lived.”
The post Hon. Abena Darkeh ’93 Reflects on How Rich Cultural Experiences and Stimulating Work Contribute to a Life Well Lived appeared first on Hofstra Law News.