photo by Phaats Photos / Roger Archer
When Hon. Juliet P. Howard takes her seat on the bench in Kings County Housing Court, she brings with her not just legal expertise, but the echoes of Harlem courtrooms, the legacy of women who defied the odds, and the rhythm of poetry that pulses through her community work.
Appointed to the Housing Court in 2021, Judge Howard is a jurist whose life and career are deeply intertwined with justice, equity, and the transformative power of giving voice to the unheard. With more than 25 years in public interest law, she’s carved out a reputation as a compassionate and principled judge, particularly devoted to ensuring marginalized New Yorkers, including communities of color, women, and the LGBTQ community, have meaningful access to legal protections and resources.
Roots in Harlem and the Law
Howard’s story begins in Harlem’s historic Sugar Hill neighborhood, where the seeds of her legal journey were sown amid the vibrant yet challenging realities of city life. As an only child raised by a single mother and grandmother, she witnessed firsthand the grit it takes to survive and thrive in the face of systemic barriers.
Her grandmother migrated from Florida during the Jim Crow era, arriving in New York as a 17-year-old single mother with a seventh-grade education and working as a live-in domestic worker. Howard’s mother, a pioneer in her own right, became the first in the family to graduate high school and spent 45 years working her way up in the Civil Court system from court assistant to Senior Court Clerk. Howard recalls evenings watching her mother prepare for court clerk exams, undeterred by repeated failures, finally triumphing and inspiring her daughter with scenes of Black and Latino attorneys and judges who looked like them.
“It planted the seed,” Howard has said of those formative experiences. “It showed me that justice isn’t abstract, it’s about real people, real families, and the systems that shape their lives.”
Fighting Housing Injustice
That seed grew into a lifelong mission. After earning her BA from Barnard College of Columbia University and her JD from Brooklyn Law School, Howard dedicated her career to housing justice and public interest law. Before ascending to the bench, she worked as a court attorney in the New York State Unified Court System and as a staff attorney in The Legal Aid Society’s Civil Division. She also served as an adjunct clinical instructor at Brooklyn Law School’s Elder Law Clinic, helping train the next generation of attorneys in elder law and tenants’ rights.
Growing up in Harlem, Howard experienced the devastating consequences of systemic injustices that disproportionately impacted Black and Brown communities, especially around housing and economic stability. Today, as a Housing Court Judge, she’s determined to be part of the solution.
“People will leave your courtroom okay with losing if they believe you listened to them, understood what they were saying, and came to a fair decision,” she often quotes retired Justice Fern Fisher. Howard lives by this ethos, ensuring each litigant is heard, informed, and treated with dignity even in the often high-stakes, emotionally charged environment of Housing Court.
Her focus extends beyond rulings. She champions programs that connect tenants to legal representation and social services, recognizing that a fair outcome depends on more than just legal arguments, it depends on empowering people to understand their rights.
A Life Beyond the Gavel
Yet Judge Howard is far more than her robe and gavel. She’s also a poet, educator, and vibrant cultural leader. In 2023, she became Brooklyn College’s second-ever Tow Mentor-in-Residence, engaging students through lectures, mentoring, and poetry events that bridged the legal and creative worlds.
Howard’s passion for the arts shines through the Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon (WWBPS), the literary series she founded and continues to curate in Brooklyn. For 14 years, WWBPS has provided a free, welcoming space for poets and writers—particularly women, LGBTQ voices, and other underrepresented artists—to share their work and foster community. Her own poetry and essays have been widely published, blending her legal insight with deeply personal storytelling.
“My creative life feeds my work on the bench,” she says. “Both are about listening, empathy, and telling stories that matter.”
Championing Equity in the Courts—and Beyond
Howard’s commitment to justice transcends her own courtroom. She serves as co-chair of the Kings County Subcommittee of the NYC Equal Justice Implementation Committee (EJIC), working to root out bias and promote diversity within New York’s judicial system. She’s actively involved in initiatives that bring students into courthouses for mock trials and career exploration, helping demystify the law for the next generation.
She’s also contributed to judicial education, co-facilitating CLE trainings on critical topics like “Implicit Bias in Housing Court,” aiming to ensure that the judiciary serves all New Yorkers fairly and knowledgeably.
Her professional affiliations reflect her dedication to equity across multiple dimensions. She’s an active member of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association (MBBA), where she’s served as faculty for the Judicial Training Academy, preparing aspiring judges to uphold equity and justice. She’s also a member of the Judicial Friends Association, the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association, and the Brooklyn Bar Association.
Equally significant is her advocacy for LGBTQ rights, both personally and professionally. As a judge, she is recognized for her sensitivity and fairness in cases impacting LGBTQ litigants. In her artistic and community endeavors, she’s created inclusive spaces for LGBTQ artists and writers, amplifying voices that have too often been sidelined. Howard and her spouse, who have made their home in Brooklyn’s 52nd Assembly District for nearly three decades, have built a family grounded in love and the belief in justice for all communities. Their two sons are currently pursuing higher education degrees, continuing the family tradition of resilience, achievement, and commitment to a better future.
Building a Legacy
Judge Howard’s life is a testament to resilience, service, and the pursuit of equity. She and her spouse are raising two sons who are now pursuing higher education, a family journey built on the same values of perseverance and community that shaped her own childhood.
Looking ahead, Judge Howard has her sights set on the Kings County Civil Court. “My goal is to continue growing as a jurist and serve at the Civil Court level, where I can apply my experience and expand my impact on issues of justice and equity,” she says. Many in Brooklyn’s legal community believe she has all the credentials, years of public interest work, judicial experience, and deep community ties to make that next step a natural progression.
From the courtroom to the poetry salon, Juliet Howard embodies the ideal of a modern jurist: one who understands that justice is not merely about laws, but about the lives behind them.
“My work is about making sure people are seen and heard,” she reflects. “That’s how you build trust in the system and hope for a more just world.”
In a city as diverse and complex as New York, Judge Juliet P. Howard stands out as both guardian of the law and champion of human dignity and a true beacon in the NYC Legal Spotlight.
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