The Commission mourns the passing of its Chair Emeritus, Hon. Richard B. Lowe III
Hon. Richard B. Lowe III, Chair Emeritus of the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission, passed away on February 19, 2024. He was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and St. John's University Law School. After law school, he joined the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where he served as an assistant district attorney and later as chief of the trials division.
After leaving the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, he was appointed as Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services under President Carter’s administration. He later served as Chief Counsel to the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee and thereafter as Chief Counsel to the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control.
His judicial career began in 1985 when he was appointed to the Criminal Court of the City of New York. In 1988, he was elected as Justice of the New York State Supreme Court and served in both the Criminal and Civil Terms. He was later appointed to the Commercial Division.
He served as presiding justice of the Appellate Term, First Department, from 2011 until his retirement in 2017.
Judge Lowe was Chair of the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission from September 2015 through December 2017. Of his nearly 25-year tenure at the Williams Commission, Judge Lowe stated, “I am proud to be part of that legacy started by ambassador and civil rights activist Franklin H. Williams … [i]t is a legacy that has contributed to a court system moving towards diversity and promoting the equal and fair treatment of all people.”
LISTEN HERE for a podcast interview of FHW Chair Emeritus Hon. Richard B. Lowe III