Lorrie Sinclair Taylor is a first generation American, first generation college graduate and now she’s going to be the first African-American judge in Loudoun County’s history.
Her parents moved to Brooklyn, New York, from Jamaica, where she first encountered the legal system. She said her brother got into some trouble growing up and that inspired her to become an attorney.
Unfortunately, her brother Valentine died Feb. 14.
“He never got to see me actually appointed, so it was a bittersweet moment when we had his funeral service two weeks ago,” Sinclair Taylor said.
In law school, where she met her husband, Daryl, she said there weren’t many people who looked like them.
“If you can find one familiar face of someone that might have an understanding of what you’ve been through, where you’ve come from, and why you are the way you are, it goes a long way,” Sinclair Taylor said.
Sinclair Taylor said it never dawned on her that she could be the first.
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“What I like to take out of this is that I’m the highest qualified candidate for the job and I was appointed to this position because I was qualified and that I was the best candidate and the fact that I’m black woman is a bonus,” Sinclair Taylor said.
She hopes this bonus will help bring trust to the criminal justice system.
Wednesday night there is a vote scheduled to potentially appoint the first Latino judge in Prince William County.
