{"id":16036,"date":"2020-01-16T08:54:17","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T14:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/?p=16036"},"modified":"2020-02-25T09:45:53","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T15:45:53","slug":"judge-aims-to-inspire-low-income-teens-with-his-example","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/alumni\/2020\/01\/16\/judge-aims-to-inspire-low-income-teens-with-his-example\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge JaPaul Harris ’03 aims to inspire low-income teens with his example"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Judge

Judge JaPaul Harris<\/p><\/div>\n

Harris: \u2018Working with underserved people is a passion of mine\u2019<\/h4>\n

By Sherri Hildebrandt<\/em>
\nGrowing up in public housing, receiving public benefits, his mother working as a teacher\u2019s aide, JaPaul Harris \u201903 (HUSL) didn\u2019t know any lawyers\u2014let alone judges\u2014as a youngster in upstate New York. Now a district court judge in Minnesota\u2019s Second Judicial District, Harris tries to be an example of what is possible for young people growing up in poverty.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with underserved people is a passion of mine,\u201d Harris says.<\/p>\n

Early on, he anticipated playing a role in public service. \u201cI thought I was going to be a teacher,\u201d he recalls. But studying the law revealed to him an opportunity to help people struggling with issues involving\u2014among other things\u2014law enforcement, housing eviction, mental health, and poverty. \u201cWhen I got into legal aid,\u201d he said, referring to his work with Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, \u201cI was sold. The way they became lawyers was by being <\/em>lawyers.<\/em> They were problem solvers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to his legal aid work, Harris has also worked as an employee relations attorney with Minneapolis Public Schools and as a judicial referee in Hennepin County. In the referee role, he had the opportunity to work directly with teens, helping them make changes and pointing them toward services to help them move forward. The goal was \u201cto effect a rapport with them by speaking plainly,\u201d he said. \u201cKids have a good B.S. meter and know when you\u2019re being straight with them.\u201d Appointed to the bench in June 2018 by Gov. Mark Dayton, he currently presides over adult felony cases.<\/p>\n

Harris\u2019 nearly 20 years of work in the legal system, and the awards and honors he\u2019s received, confirm that his work is making a difference. He was recently honored by Minnesota Lawyer magazine with a Diversity and Inclusion Award for his ongoing statewide work training court staffs in diversity and inclusion. In 2018, he received an Excellence Award from the Hennepin County Bar Association for Improving Access to Justice.<\/p>\n

A self-described news junkie, Harris and his wife, Jana Kooren (whom he met when they both worked in the Hamline law library), have two children, ages 6 and 9.<\/p>\n

He has coached football at the Jimmy Lee Recreation Center in St. Paul for 15 years, and just the mention of it puts a smile on his face. It\u2019s another place where he believes he can make a difference. \u201cI feel it\u2019s important for young men who look like me to see me not only as a judge, or a lawyer, but as a person. When you don\u2019t know something, you don\u2019t know to reach for it. I want young men, particularly young black men, to see someone who has attained this position and to know\u2014I was just like you.\u201d<\/p>\n

He keeps in touch with his players, too. \u201cI coached one kid 12 years ago,\u201d he says with a note of pride, \u201cand now he\u2019s coaching with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sherri Hildebrandt is a freelance editor and writer in St. Paul.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Mitchell<\/a>

Mitchell Hamline Law Winter 2019<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harris: \u2018Working with underserved people is a passion of mine\u2019 By Sherri Hildebrandt Growing up in public housing, receiving public benefits, his mother working as a teacher\u2019s aide, JaPaul Harris \u201903 (HUSL) didn\u2019t know any lawyers\u2014let alone judges\u2014as a youngster in upstate New York. Now a district court judge in Minnesota\u2019s Second Judicial District, Harris … <\/p>\n

Judge JaPaul Harris ’03 aims to inspire low-income teens with his example<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":16078,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[161,3,163],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16036","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-alumni","8":"category-alumni-spotlight","9":"category-news","10":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}