Sophia Trott, Peekskill’s new city court judge, has 30 years of experience as an attorney but will become a student when she attends the Judicial Institute at Pace University Law School before taking the bench in January.
Trott, 59, who has no experience in the criminal justice system, said she’d like to restore confidence in the local court.
The first African American female judge in Peekskill, Trott replaces Reginald Johnson who resigned in September amid allegations of ticket-fixing and verbal abuse.
“I know that there has been some bad press and a lot has been going on there,” Trott told the Herald last week. “So I hope to bring back to the courthouse a place where people can trust the court and the judges and know that we are doing the right thing by the people, and that we’re treating our staff and our co-workers in the proper manner.”
Trott, a Peekskill resident of five years, said her top priority is to make sure the court functions efficiently, that she and fellow Judge Lissette Fernandez work together, and hear court cases in a timely manner. Fernandez is Peekskill’s part time judge.
“I’m also hoping to make a difference for the people who are coming in front of me, to make sure their matters are heard,” Trott said. “And for young people that may be getting in trouble in the city of Peekskill, I hope we can find alternatives for them, to keep them out of the jail system.”
The mother of three said she would like to have a focus on young people and steer those who may get in trouble at an early age in the right direction.
“Working in the judicial system, if there’s anything that I can do to give them a second chance, a second bite at the apple, to turn their life around [I will],” Trott said. “Because some of them are the next leaders in our community, they’re going to be the next judges, the next pastors, the next mayors. And I would like to have an impact in their lives.”
Trott was born on the island of Jamaica, growing up alongside her sister, and a loving and business oriented family. She moved to the United States when she was 11 years old, living between Yonkers and Mount Vernon. While a student at Mount Vernon High School, Trott knew she wanted to be a lawyer.
“One of my cousins is an attorney and she inspired me to become one at a young age,” Trott said. “I looked up to her because she was so smart and well respected in the community. She was the first professional person in my family.”
Trott studied pre-law at Long Island University and graduated in 1988, receiving a juris doctorate degree from Cardozo Law School in 1991. She became a Managing Partner for Bozeman, Trott & Savage LLP, for several years. There she supervised associate attorneys and paralegals, practiced residential and commercial real estate transactions, matrimonial and family law, landlord/tenant proceedings and civil litigation.
“We were actually the largest Black owned law firm in Westchester County and we served a lot of clients within the community,” Trott said. “We did a lot of good work for people who probably would have gone unrepresented or not had their voices heard.”
Trott later founded her Mount Vernon based firm in 2007, where she practiced civil litigation cases such as matrimonial and family court matters, custody and child support cases, and wills, as well as residential and commercial real estate closing and landlord/tenant proceedings.
“I thought that I would probably become a judge in Mount Vernon, but I moved up here about five years ago,” Trott said. “The position became available a few months ago and I thought it was a good opportunity for me to do the same thing here and in a new community for me.”
About being the city’s first African American woman judge Trott said, “It’s important to me as a woman, especially with everything that’s been happening in this country, I want to represent the females in our society and I hope to do that. I hope to be integral and that other young people can look up to me and know that they can become a judge someday.”
Trott is a member of the Peekskill chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and chair of the organization’s Criminal Justice Committee. There she worked on issues related to bias incidents in the school system or with young people getting in trouble with local businesses, she said. The NAACP was the lead organization in the recently instituted Civilian Complaint Review Board.
Trott was also the former president of the Westchester Black Bar Association, a former member of the Mount Vernon Planning Board, former Chairperson of the Mount Vernon Taxi Commission, former Secretary of the Board of Westhab of Mount Vernon (an affordable housing developer), a former member of the Board of Westchester Legal Aid Society, and a former mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Westchester & Putnam.
She identifies as a Christian and is a deaconess at the Restoration Christian Ministries in the Bronx.
“I come from a family of faith believers and I believe that it helps me to have empathy for the people that come before me,” Trott said. “My character, my integrity, and who I am as a person comes from my faith and I think it will help me to deal with the community and be an effective attorney and a good person.”
The new judge said that the most important skill a judge needs is fairness. Trott is for criminal justice reform. She said that jail doesn’t always solve the issue and there are times where it’s better to refer people, such as those having a mental health crisis, to other courts.
“I’m definitely concerned about [a revolving door of crime], just even being a citizen myself in the community you want to make sure that your family is safe and the neighborhood is safe,” Trott said. “But on the other end of it, I don’t want people to be convicted of crimes that they are not guilty of. So I will work within the system to see if we can address some of those concerns the community has.”
Trott’s term as Peekskill City Court Judge starts January 2025 and ends Dec. 31, 2034.
“I’m excited for this new position, not just for myself and my family, but also for the community,” Trott said. “I want to be here for the community. I want them to know that I’m available to them and that I truly do want to make a difference in the community and I will leave myself open to getting input from the community.”
