Wednesday, February 23, 2005
DISTRICT ATTORNEY RICHARD A. BROWN PRESENTS WILLIAM TUCKER GARVIN AWARD IN CELEBRATION OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH TO QUEENS ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE LESLIE G. LEACH
District Attorney Richard A. Brown, in celebration of Black History Month, today honored Queens Administrative Judge Leslie G. Leach as the 2005 recipient of the William Tucker Garvin Public Service Award.
Garvin, who died in 1966, was the first African-American Assistant District Attorney appointed in Queens County and an annual award is presented in his name in celebration of Black History Month.
District Attorney Brown said, “William Tucker Garvin was an individual of courage and tenacity willing to work hard to achieve his goals. As the first African-American prosecutor in Queens County, Mr. Garvin paved the way for others to follow. I am delighted to present the Garvin Award to Administrative Judge Leslie Leach, in celebration of Black History Month.”
District Attorney Brown noted that Justice Leach, who has achieved a long and notable record of public service, has been a leader and innovator whose life, like William Garvin’s, has become an inspiring success story.
A graduate of Queens College, the University of Massachusetts and Columbia Law School, Judge Leach was appointed as a Criminal Court Judge in 1993 by former Mayor David N. Dinkins and then reappointed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2002. The following year Judge Leach was elected by Queens County voters as a Justice of the Supreme Court. Judge Leach has served in Criminal and Civil terms and presided over the Queens Treatment Court. He was appointed Queens Administrative Judge in May 2004.
District Attorney Brown, in presenting the award, said, “It is fitting and proper that Judge Leach receive this award which honors an individual deeply committed to the pursuit of excellence and service to his community. Judge Leach had been the subject of a Queens Public TV documentary, had been featured in a Center for Court Innovation training film during his tenure as the presiding Justice in the Queens Treatment Court and has the respect of his colleagues and all of us who know him.”
The Garvin Award was presented at a reception in the District Attorney’s third floor conference room at his offices in Kew Gardens attended by numerous judges, public officials and assistant district attorneys.