By Tangerine Clarke
Kayla Reece’s stellar upbringing in
a Guyanese household shine through
in her brilliant contributions in writing,
storytelling, activism and her
work in women’s rights.
In a recent interview with Caribbean
Life, Reece, a master’s student
in Women’s & Gender Studies at
The Graduate Center CUNY, said she
was pleased and proud to have been
mentioned among the accomplished
women in “Celebrating Trailblazers
and Scholars Who Amplify Women’s
History,” a women’s history feature.
A former marketing executive
of Kingston’s Fly Jamaica Airways,
Reece, is now an editorial assistant
intern at Women’s Studies Quarterly
(WSQ), while she pursues her master’s
degree. WSQ is a peer-reviewed
journal that publishes both academic
articles and creative pieces about
women, gender, and sexuality. WSQ
is published by the Feminist Press at
The Graduate Center.
In a recent Q&A with an online
blog, Reece talked about her work in
assisting on WSQ’s upcoming special
issue entitled “Black Love,” scheduled
to be distributed this spring.
According to the original Call for
Papers, this special issue seeks to
explore “what justice looks like when
we center love and care at the heart
of our politics,” specifically interrogating
“Black love as a concept
and tool for forming, sustaining, and
fragmenting global Black communities
in the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries.”
Reece explained that she has
always been attracted to language,
fiction writing and prose as a child,
and later stumbled on the Feminist
Press by reading some of their publications
in college.
The student who is still deciding on
her latest thesis topic, said her previous
graduate level research sought
to investigate gender-based violence
against indigenous women and girls
in Guyana’s gold mining spaces.
Caribbean L 22 ife, March 11-17, 2022
By Nelson A. King
In January 2021, Caribbean American
Justice Kathy King, the daughter of
Montserrat immigrants, was one of four
judges temporarily assigned to Supreme
Court, New York County due to vacancies
resulting from the retirement of
several judges and appointments to the
Appellate Division, 1st Department.
Justice King, a Bedford-Stuyvesant,
Brooklyn resident, told Caribbean Life
that it was a virtual assignment due
to the pandemic, and meant that she
was physically located in Kings County,
while hearing oral arguments and
appearing virtually on conferences on
New York County cases.
In January 2022, Justice King joined
the New York County Supreme Court
bench and presides in a Medical Malpractice
Part.
While Justice King conferences and
hears oral arguments on designated
matters virtually, she said her trial
calendar for the year is anticipated to
be “busy, consistent with the court
system’s focus on the restoration of inperson
proceedings and services.”
“During the pandemic, I really missed
the courtroom experience and look forward
to the opportunity to resume in
person trials safely,” she said. “The delay
in trials resulting from the pandemic
has had an adverse effect on the ability
of parties to seek relief in court and
enforce their rights.”
Justice King found that working
remotely required some adjustments.
She said physical court appearances
were replaced by virtual appearances
via Microsoft Teams, a video conferencing
program similar to Zoom, where the
Court emails a Microsoft Teams invitation
to the parties with a designated
time to appear.
With virtual proceedings, Justice
King said the Court is also more reliant
on the New York State Court Electronic
Filing (NYSCEF) system that permits
the filing of legal papers by electronic
means.
Using NYSCEF, she said the Court can
provide notice of virtual court appearances,
review electronic submission of
documents by parties in an action, and
upload decisions and orders.
Justice King also said that the virtual
operation of the court has been challenging.
She said that, typically, when interim
requests for relief or motions are made,
60 to 80 matters are heard on a given
day.
In a virtual proceeding, she said
about 50 percent of this amount is
heard over a period of days.
“In the courtroom, the Court has the
assistance of staff, usually two Court
attorneys, to hear multiple cases at the
Justice Kathy King. Siarhei Zhukau
same time,” Justice King said. “In a virtual
proceeding, however, since matters
are heard based on the time designated
in the Teams invite, only one matter
may be heard at a time.”
But she said since the virtual proceeding
is a by-product of the pandemic,
the rules governing these proceedings
are “a work in progress.”
Justice King said it is important for
parties to be observant of appropriate
decorum when appearing in a virtual
proceeding.
She said attire that reflects the business
of the court should be worn.
“Relaxed clothing, such as tee shirts
and sweats, should not become the
standard because the proceeding is not
in person,” she said. “Participants in a
virtual proceeding should also select a
space that is quiet and free from distractions.
Pets should not be heard.
“Office and/or house mates should
not interrupt the person appearing in
the virtual proceeding,” Justice King
added. “Parties should not eat or drink
beverages, except for water, while
appearing on the screen. Parties should
have the same level of respect for the
court and the court process during a
virtual proceeding.”
Justice King received her undergraduate
degree from the City College of the
City University of New York (CUNY),
and her law degree from the State University
of New York at Buffalo.
She was elected to the Civil Court,
Kings County in 2003. In 2009, she
was appointed to serve as an Acting
Supreme Court Justice, where she presided
over guardianship cases from
2009-2013.
In 2014, Justice King was elected
to Supreme Court, Kings County. She
was appointed to the Committee on
Fiduciary Appointments by Chief Judge
Jonathan Lippmann in 2015.
Throughout her tenure on the bench,
Justice King said she has written extensively
on “a wide range of legal issues,”
including the seminal decision, In the
Matter of Jane Doe, An Incapacitated
Person, a case of first impression under
the Family Health Care Decisions Act.
Her decisions have been published in
the New York Official Reports and the
New York Law Journal.
Justice King said she began her legal
career in the NYS Unified Court System
in 1989, where she was a Court Attorney
to the late Ralph W. Sparks.
Thereafter, she was assigned to Richmond
County Civil Court as Counsel to
the Self-Represented.
From 1992-1998, Justice King served
as General Counsel, where she supervised
litigation and provided legal counsel
to the Commissioners of Elections.
Kayla Reece. Kayla Reece
Justice Kathy King prefers
in-person trials
Kayla Reece
blazing a trail,
master’s student,
activist, feminist