Plan to name Suffolk courthouse after county's 1st Black elected judge

The Suffolk County Supreme Court building may soon be renamed for a former justice who rose from childhood poverty in the Jim Crow South to become the first African American judge elected to the Suffolk bench.

A resolution to rename the Central Islip court building after former Supreme Court Justice Marquette L. Floyd, who retired in 2002 and died in December at age 92, is expected to be tabled in committee Thursday because of Suffolk County naming guidelines that require an honoree be deceased a minimum of six months.

But there's widespread support within the legislature for the proposal, according to officials in the office of Suffolk Legis. Kevin J. McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst), who introduced the proposal in a resolution after Suffolk County District Administrative Judge Andrew A. Crecca came up with the renaming idea.

"Judge Floyd was a pioneer for African Americans, becoming the first African American District Court Judge and State Supreme Court Judge in Suffolk County," McCaffrey said in a statement. "Judge Floyd overcame many obstacles in his life to rise to the top of his profession. His story and his life are an inspiration to all of us."

In a statement, Crecca said: "Naming the Supreme Court building at the John P. Cohalan, Jr., Court Complex after the County's first African American Justice is a fitting tribute to his legacy as a true pioneer of justice and equality." Floyd is a source of inspiration to young people "seeking to overcome racial bias and socio-economic adversity," Crecca said.

Floyd, admitted to the bar in 1960, started his legal career as a $20-a-week intern for an Amityville attorney. He was elected to the Suffolk bench in 1969. In 1986 he was appointed to Suffolk County Court.

He was born to a single mother in Winnsboro, South Carolina, on Oct. 14, 1928, and came with his family to New York at age 16. Floyd attended White Plains High School and New York University before joining the Air Force. Denied admission to Officers Candidate School because of segregation, he served six years, a good portion during the Korean War.

Following military service, Floyd graduated from NYU and Brooklyn Law School, all while working as a maintenance man, clerk and performing other odd jobs to afford tuition. He opened his own law practice in 1962.

In 1989, Floyd was elected to the New York State Supreme Court, presiding over what Crecca described as "significant civil cases" until 2002.

During his tenure, Floyd also served on the Appellate Term and in 2001 was designated its Presiding Justice.

In a 2002 story, Floyd told Newsday his grandmother's wisdom carried him through life in the Jim Crow South and taught him civic duty and "middle-class values." He said she was the only person in their neighborhood who paid the poll tax in order to vote, her battle against the instrument designed to bar Black people from casting ballots before the practice was outlawed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Floyd told Newsday his grandmother's gumption emboldened him to meet resistance, even racism, with patience and strength.

As he said, she taught him, "You are judged by the company you keep," adding: "She had an idea, and the idea was to have high standards."

With Denise Bonilla and Zachary R. Dowdy

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”