Background
Pierce, Lawrence Warren was born on December 31, 1924 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Son of Harold Ernest and Leora (Bellinger) Pierce.
Pierce, Lawrence Warren was born on December 31, 1924 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Son of Harold Ernest and Leora (Bellinger) Pierce.
Bachelor of Science, St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia, 1948. Doctor of Humane Letters, St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia, 1967. Juris Doctor, Fordham University, 1951.
Doctor of Laws, Fordham University, 1982. Doctor of Laws, Fairfield University, 1972. Doctor of Laws, Hamilton College, 1987.
Doctor of Laws, St. John's University, 1990.
As a lawyer, Pierce worked as a staff attorney with the civil branch of The Legal Aid Society in New York City and then for six years served as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn. From 1961 to 1963 he was a deputy commissioner of the New York City Police Department. From 1963 to 1966 he was Director of the New York State Division for Youth, and from 1966 to 1970 he was Chairman of the New York State Narcotic Addiction Control Commission, which opened or funded 23 treatment centers.
In 1971 President Nixon appointed Pierce to serve as a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New New York
After Pierce served as a district judge for ten years, in 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed him to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Pierce became the third African-American to serve on the Second Circuit, following Thurgood Marshall and Amalya Kearse.
In 1978, Chief Justice Warren Burger appointed Pierce to serve on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. He also was the American Bar Association"s Alternate Observer at the United Nations.
Pierce assumed senior status on the Second Circuit in 1990.
In 1995 he retired from the federal judiciary in order to travel abroad and he became Director of the United States Agency for International Development-funded Cambodian Court Training Project Cambodia. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, his mother, Mary Leora Bellinger Pierce, a classical pianist who accompanied Marian Anderson, died of pneumonia when he was five years old. Pierce was raised by his step-mother, Violet Abrahams Pierce, a registered nurse, and, until he was eleven, by his father, Harold East. Pierce Senior
Pierce has been married twice, first to Wilma Verenia Taylor, with whom he had three sons, Warren, Michael and Mark.
Warren and Michael followed in their father"s footsteps and studied law. Mark works overseas as a Regional Director with Plan International.
After his first wife"s death, Pierce married Cynthia Straker, a former federal attorney and a professor at Howard University and Saint John"s University Law School. Cynthia died November 30, 2011.
The couple resided in Sag Harbor, New New York
Pierce devoted several years to researching his family history and discovered two black forbears who were brothers, Richard and Anthony Pierce, both seamen. They met two Dutch sisters who were indentured servants, Hannah and Marie Van Aca. They settled in Cumberland County, New Jersey.
Richard and Hannah"s son, Adam, served in the New Jersey Militia, which fought in the Revolutionary War at the Battles of Crosswicks and Monmouth.
Foreign consecutive years, Ebony Magazine listed Pierce as one of the most influential African Americans in the United States.
Past board directors Cooperative American Relief Everywhere, Havens Fund Society, Lincoln Hall for Boys, S-R and S.A.R., New York chapters, Catholic Interracial Council, Practising Law Institute. Member of American Bar Association (committee on correspondent service and facilities 1970-1971, alternate observer United States Mission to United Nations 1988-1990, site evaluation committee, secretary legal education 1996-1998), Special Committee Army Confinement Facilties (Office of Secretary of Army 1970), Urban League, National Bar Association, American Law Institute, Council Foreign Relations.
Married Wilma Taylor, 1948 (deceased May 1978). Married Cynthia Straker, July 8, 1979. Children: Warren Wood, Michael Lawrence, Mark Taylor.
