A new bill in the Legislature proposes to rename the Dorchester Courthouse in Codman Square for the late Judge Leslie E. Harris as tribute to the work and legacy of the lifelong educator who spent his early years as a probation officer and public defender before sitting on the bench in the Suffolk County Juvenile Court for 20 years until his retirement in 2014.
“If you’re from Dorchester or Roxbury, you know who Judge Harris is,” said state Rep. Chris Worrell, one of the bill’s House sponsors. “One of the only judges that you could see in community. You don’t see judges like how you saw Judge Harris at the supermarket and different kinds of events.”
When Worrell attended Judge Harris’s wake last October, he said he saw mourners from all walks of life, from justices and elected officials to formerly incarcerated individuals, community leaders, and students. That gathering, Worrell said, reflected the life Judge Harris had lived.
“To rename the Dorchester District Court after Judge Leslie Harris, it was a no-brainer,” he said. “From the first day we filed the bill, hundreds of people reached out. Everyone’s excited about seeing this done.”
For the Harris family, the proposed designation marks a legacy of service and support and serves as a reminder that the man they called “dad” was deeply appreciated.
“I wish he were here to see it,” said his son Brian. “He was just dad to me. I have an opportunity to keep his legacy going, and that’s kind of our intentions.”
He noted that while Judge Harris was deeply involved in his community and was the kind of person who would go out of his way to help someone, it never took away from his role as a father.
“A lot of the people he worked with are no longer children. But some of them have children now,” Brian said. “I hope that in that legacy, their children understand that this was someone in the community who did a lot for you and made a big impact.”
Should the bill pass, the courthouse would be the third in the state to be named after a Black legal professional, the others being the Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse in Springfield and the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse in Boston.
“The Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association is considering what we can do as an organization to contribute to supporting that goal,” said Theresa Wilson, president-elect of the association, which is dedicated to fostering inclusivity and equity within the legal field.
“I remember sitting in meetings with Judge Harris where he was frustrated at the lack of Black men in the juvenile court,” Wilson said. “Juvenile court is often full of little Black boys coming before judges who are making decisions about their lives.”
As of 2021, nearly 88 percent of lawyers in Massachusetts identified as white, according to census data from the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, while young people of color made up around 60 percent of juvenile arraignments, 80 percent of pretrial detentions, and 84 percent of commitments to the Department of Youth Services, according to the Massachusetts Coalition for Juvenile Justice Reform.
Wilson said it is essential for young people to be able to see and recognize themselves in a court system that is often “one monolithic appearance,” something Judge Harris advocated for through his work with the MBLA.
He was the co-chair of the MBLA Judicial Academy, where he worked with his community network and co-chair Joseph Feaster to create an advisory team that supports those interested in becoming members of the judiciary.
“We just had our second graduation for our Judicial Academy [Feb.12] for Black History Month, and we have decided to rename the Judicial Academy in honor of Judge Harris,” Wilson said. “It’s now called the MBLA Honorable Leslie E. Harris Judicial Academy.”
In the legal profession, having a mix of people from different perspectives only makes the work done stronger, said Rodline Louijeune, president of the Boston College Law School Black Alumni Network.
“If you asked Judge Harris if he thought he would have been a judge when he was in South Side, Chicago, he probably would have said ‘Absolutely not,’” Louijeune said. “I don’t think this time last year I would have thought that Judge Harris would only be a memory now.”
Leslie E. Harris was a founding member of BC Law’s Black Alumni Network in 1985, when he and a few other students were looking for a way to stay in touch after graduation. BC BAN celebrated its 40th anniversary last year and works to keep alumni engaged and connected while supporting current students on their journeys to become attorneys, which, Louijeune said, is part of Harris’s legacy.
“As more of our icons become legacies … it’s important to remember that there’s foundational work that’s been done,” she said. “Having this physical representation of Judge Harris would be, and will be, important and foundational in ensuring that his memory lives on.”
The House and Senate are currently resolving differences in the bill.
“My father loved Roxbury, he loved Dorchester, he loved giving people an opportunity, and he loved connecting with people,” Brian Harris said. “We don’t want his legacy to fade away, so that’s why this is important. We hope that everybody who has been moved or motivated by him will share his legacy moving forward.”