Darcel Clark facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Darcel Clark
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| District Attorney of Bronx County | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2016 |
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| Preceded by | Robert Johnson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Darcel Denise Clark
April 2, 1962 New York City, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | Boston College (BA) Howard University (JD) |
Darcel Denise Clark (born April 2, 1962) is an American attorney and prosecutor who has served as the Bronx County District Attorney since 2016. Clark is the first woman to hold that office, and the first woman of color to serve as a district attorney in the history of the State of New York.
Prior to being elected district attorney, Clark served as a judge on New York City Criminal Court and subsequently on the New York Supreme Court in the Bronx and in that court's Appellate Division.
Early life and education
Clark is a native of the Bronx. She was raised in the Soundview Houses in the South Bronx. Her father, Daniel, was a grounds supervisor and her mother, Viola, was a nurse and a member of the tenant patrol, which was formed in 1975 to keep neighbors and children safe. Clark attended New York City public schools and graduated from Harry S. Truman High School in the Bronx. Clark became the first member of her family to attend college.
She attended Boston College, graduating in 1983 with a Bachelor's of Arts degree. She then attended law school at Howard University, graduating in 1986.
Career
Following law school, Clark returned to the Bronx, where she was hired as an assistant district attorney for Mario Merola, the Bronx County District Attorney at the time, and stayed under her immediate predecessor, Robert Johnson. .....
In 1999, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani appointed Clark as a Judge for the Criminal Court for the City of New York, where she served for seven years. In 2006, Clark was elected to the Supreme Court in Bronx County, where she served until Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed her to serve as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division of the First Department of the New York Supreme Court in November 2012.
Bronx County District Attorney
Clark decided to step down from the bench to seek election as the Bronx County District Attorney, following Johnson's decision to step down to seek a judgeship one week after his win in the primary election in September 2015. This sparked controversy, as much of the press perceived Johnson's decision as orchestrated by the Bronx Democratic Party to avoid selecting the next district attorney in the primary. Regardless, Clark easily defeated her Republican opponent, Robert Siano, in the November 2015 general election, garnering 86.64% of the vote. She is both the first woman and first African American to hold this position.
As district attorney, Clark has vowed to implement reforms to address wrongful conviction, administrative backlogs, and problems surrounding Rikers Island, among others.
