FARRAH MAFFAI Judge Lawrence M. Lawson speaks to students at Red Bank Regional High School on Feb. 25.
LITTLE SILVER — Lawrence M. Lawson’s focus was not exactly on academics when he got to high school.
"I didn’t think about the future," Lawson, assignment judge for the Superior Court of New Jersey, Freehold, told a gathering of Red Bank Regional High School students Monday. His attention was focused on the football field and basketball court.
But a teacher whom Lawson respected told the future judge that he should think beyond sports.
"It was at that time I decided to hit the books," Lawson told the students.
As a freshman in college, Lawson suffered a knee injury, that, in effect, dashed any hopes for a possible career in sports.
Lawson was the first African American to be appointed to the bench in Monmouth County, and the first to be named as assignment judge.
"The assignment judge is the chief judge in the county," he said, explaining his role to the students.
As assignment judge, Lawson oversees the $16 million budget and the 30 judges in the four divisions of the Superior Court, who were responsible for hearing the 69,000 cases that passed through the courts in this county last year.
His role, he explained, is "to make sure everyone who passes through those courts is treated with courtesy, dignity, and respect.
"The buck really stops at my desk," he stressed.
While sitting on the criminal court bench, Lawson said he was often faced with young adults accused of committing various offenses who said they "couldn’t make it" because they were from impoverished families, he said.
"Well, that isn’t true," he said.
"I walked some of the streets you walk" as a young man attending high school in Neptune, Lawson said. "There’s no difference from me and where you are today."
To make it, Lawson told the students, requires young adults to be careful about their peer groups. And being able to tell friends "no," even though that can be difficult for adolescents.
"But you have to," he said.
Lawson also stressed the importance of education, including college and beyond.
The current recession, Lawson said, has hampered employment opportunities for young adults particularly hard.
"The B.A. or B.S. is not going to get you that job you think you deserve. You have to go to graduate school," Lawson said. "You have to prepare yourself."
The judge also advised the audience to be careful because, even as minors, actions have ramifications.
While relatively minor infractions committed by those under 18 are expunged, those pursuing certain jobs will have their records examined.
"That piece of candy you stole from Mr. Jones will come back to haunt you," Lawson said. "What would I do if I was you? I’d stay out of everything."
Lawson was invited to speak to students as part of the school’s Black History Month celebration.
The invitation to the judge was extended by the school’s Black American Cultural Association, "where we explain, share and celebrate our history," said Adjoa Poku, the group’s president.