Judge Martin dedicates Brooklyn Bar Association Trailblazer award to his sister

Judge: She’s the real trailblazer in my family

January 2, 2019 By Rob Abruzzese, Legal Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Hon. Larry Martin (right) was given the Vivian H. Agress Trailblazer Award by President David Chidekel at the annual Brooklyn Bar Association Foundation dinner, but he dedicated the award to his sister because he feels that she is the real trailblazer in the family. Eagle photo by Andy Katz

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At the Brooklyn Bar Association Foundation’s Annual dinner in December, Hon. Larry Martin was one of seven people who received the Vivian H. Agress Trailblazer Award, which was created last year to honor pioneers in the legal community.

While Justice Martin graciously accepted his award, he doesn’t consider himself a trailblazer. Instead, he insists, the real trailblazer in his family is his sister, JoAnn Martin-Hughes.

“She was the one who inspired me to go to law school and become a Civil Rights attorney,” said Justice Martin. “I don’t see myself as a trailblazer. She’s the real trailblazer who laid the path for me to follow.”

Martin-Hughes, a Brooklyn native, was a 20-year-old student at Florida Memorial College when she was arrested in 1963 during a lay-in at a drug store’s segregated fountain in St. Augustine, Florida.

Martin-Hughes was beaten by cattle prods, arrested and spent 60 days in jail for her efforts. Justice Martin was just 15 years old at the time and the event had a tremendous impact not only on the nation, but especially on him as an impressionable youth.

Hon. Larry Martin (second from left) with clerks (from left) Tatiana Benjamin, Lori Juarbe-Casiano and Inga O'Neale. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese — Hon. Larry Martin (second from left) with clerks (from left) Tatiana Benjamin, Lori Juarbe-Casiano and Inga O’Neale. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese

“She is my older sister, but out of all of my siblings she was probably the last one who I would have expected to do something like that,” Justice Martin said. “She was sitting on the beach playing cards with her friends when she was recruited by Hosea Williams and Andrew Young to demonstrate to desegregate lunch counters in St. Augustine, Florida.

“I remember thinking that if she had the courage and the fortitude to do something like that, then I had to step up myself,” Judge Martin continued. “It really galvanized me to go to law school to become a Civil Rights lawyer.”

Martin-Hughes remained politically active after the lay-in incident and eventually became a teacher in Florida. In 1995, the district found out about the arrest, which caused her to become politically active again. She travelled from school to school to talk to students about the Civil Rights Movement.

Judge Martin (sitting) with his clerks (from left): Tatiana Benjamin, Rena Malik, Inga O'Neale, Hon. Robin Sheares, Linda Atlas, Stephania Sanon and Noel Daly. — Judge Martin (sitting) with his clerks (from left): Tatiana Benjamin, Rena Malik, Inga O’Neale, Hon. Robin Sheares, Linda Atlas, Stephania Sanon and Noel Daly.

In 2010, Martin-Hughes had the incident expunged from her record by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, along with other Civil Rights activists from the era. She was later recognized with an NAACP award for her efforts.

“She was a highly respected teacher at the school, so it was a shock when people found out that JoAnn Martin-Hughes had a record,” Justice Martin said. “She was embarrassed. But I told her that she had nothing to be ashamed of — that it was the state of Florida that should be ashamed.”

Judge Martin was at Boys High School in Bedford-Stuyvesant in 1963 and focused more on playing football than the possibility of going to law school, but the event changed his life. He eventually achieved his goal of becoming a Civil Rights attorney and took a job as the regional attorney for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights for about four years.

He said that he eventually went on to become a judge because he mimicked the career paths of Hon. Thurgood Marshall and Hon. Robert Carter.

Justice Martin’s sister was unfortunately not in attendance when David Chidekel, president of the Brooklyn Bar Association, presented him with the Vivian H. Agress Trailblazer Award, but he said that he had the next best thing. All of his past law clerks were in attendance that night. He noted that while his sister was responsible for getting him to law school, it was these clerks who were responsible for making him a great judge.

“Having all of my law secretaries in attendance really made the evening special for me,” Justice Martin said. “I’ve been on the bench for 26 years, and these are the people who do the heavy lifting. It’s a special relationship between a judge and his law secretaries, because you spend so much time together. In my experience, you become as close as family members.”