Michele R. Titus is an American politician and jurist from Queens, New York who has served as a New York City Civil Court Judge since January 2020. A Democrat, Titus previously represented District 31 in the New York State Assembly from 2002 to 2020.

Biography

Titus is a lifelong resident of Queens and graduated from John Adams High School. She received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in political science from

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public research university with campuses in Binghamton, Vestal, and Johnson City, New York. It is one of the four university centers in the Stat ...

(

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by ...

) in 1990. Titus earned her J.D. from the

Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and has an affiliation agreement with University at Al ...

in 1993 and was admitted to the

New York State Bar The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justice; ...

in 1994. Prior to her election to the Assembly, Titus served as Chief of Staff to Senator Ada Smith and a Executive Director for the New York State Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Caucus. She had previously been an attorney for the

New York City Board of Education The Panel for Educational Policy of the Department of Education of the City School District of the City of New York, abbreviated as the Panel for Educational Policy and also known as the New York City Board of Education, is the governing body of ...

. She has also been, at various times, a member of the staff of the Consumer Frauds Bureau of the New York State Attorney General's Office as well as the Integrity Bureau for the Queens County District Attorney's office. A Democrat, Titus was first elected to the State Assembly in a special election held on April 16, 2002 to replace Assembly member Pauline Rhodd-Cummings, who died while in office. Titus also won the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

that November with 86 percent of the vote. She ran uncontested in the 2008 and 2010

s. The district comprised Far Rockaway, Rosedale, Laurelton,

Springfield Gardens Springfield Gardens is a neighborhood in the southeastern area of the New York City borough of Queens, bounded to the north by St. Albans, to the east by Laurelton and Rosedale, to the south by John F. Kennedy International Airport, and to the w ...

, South Ozone Park and South Richmond Hill. She served on several standing committees, including Children and Families, Codes, Judiciary, Small Business and Local Governments, among others. In 2017, Titus made headlines when she and her husband, Eric DeBerry, sued the state's Unified Court System. The suit alleged that DeBerry had been wrongfully terminated from his job as a court officer; it included a claim that the defendant's actions had affected the couple's sex life. On November 5, 2019, Titus was elected as a New York City Civil Court Judge. She took office in January 2020, stepping down from her Assembly seat.

References

External links

New York State Assembly Member Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Titus, Michele Living people Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Women state legislators in New York (state) African-American state legislators in New York (state) Binghamton University alumni Albany Law School alumni Year of birth uncertain 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians John Adams High School (Queens) alumni 1969 births 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women