LYNN — Even now, four years after her ascension to the district bench, Ina Howard-Hogan can’t believe it’s real.
“I have to pinch myself,” said Judge Howard-Hogan, a Lynn English graduate who still lives in the city. “Every time I hear ‘all rise,’ I get goosebumps. And I hope I always get goosebumps.”
And while women — and women of color — in the judiciary system aren’t unique anymore, Howard-Hogan feels that still, even now, there are aspects of it that harken back to different days, when it was less prevalent than it is now.
“You can still see the double-take when you walk in,” said Howard-Hogan. “Who knows when that’ll end.”
All of which means she sees herself as a positive influence on girls, especially in a city such as Lynn and at a school such as English. And since Women History Month is rapidly coming to a close, she has a lot to offer to high school girls who look up to her.
“I’m in (teacher Jim) Tidmarsh’s class a lot,” she said. “I make every opportunity to go and speak to schools. I tell them ‘this is possible. No dream is unattainable if you work hard. Hard work, perseverance … yes, you can do it. It can happen. And it will happen.”
Being a judge didn’t just happen for Ina Howard-Hogan. After graduating from English, she got her undergraduate degree from Boston College and went onto Northeastern School of Law. Her first legal job was as an assistant district attorney for Essex County, where much of her work as a prosecutor was in domestic violence.
After her ADA job, she became a federal probation officer for three years, followed by a stint as an assistant attorney general for Massachusetts in the cyber- and white-collar crime units.
“That was interesting,” she said. “It was pretty much at the beginning of prosecution of those crimes, and there was a lot of cutting-edge technology I was able to learn. I did that for five years.”
Her last stop before becoming a judge was to be appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick to be general counsel of the state parole board.
“I never thought I’d have that opportunity,” she said. “It gave me the opportunity to practice criminal and civil legal counsel.
“I do believe that was the one of the most challenging positions I’ve ever had.”
Finally, in 2016, Gov. Charlie Baker nominated her for a judgeship.
“It was unbelievable,” she said. “The whole process is humbling.
“I am very fortunate and very blessed that I could come to Lynn District Court. I know, from my background and from where I grew up, what I could bring to the job here, especially as a mentor to young people.”
Howard-Hogan feels Lynn is certainly a unique city.
“Culturally it’s amazing,” she said. “What you will learn, it’ll shape you. It will help you. It becomes part of you.
“And to know, as a woman, that you are a decision-maker You are affecting people’s lives, whether it’s housing, restraining orders, the criminal process … to know you’re a woman who is making some of those decisions, it’s a different thought process than maybe a man would have. But you need it.”
Right now, she said, the biggest societal issue is opioid addiction, “because I see so many crimes in the area that stem from that.
“It takes in mental health issues, criminal issues, I see all of those issues flowing from addiction.”
