The Hon. Anne J. Swern is a judge for the Criminal Court of the City of New York in New York County. Swern was initially elected to the Civil Court of the City of New York in Kings County in 2019. Shortly after her election, she was designated to the Criminal Court by Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks.
Swern earned a B.A. in legal studies and political science from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1977. Then, in 1980, she completed a J.D. at Brooklyn Law School.
After graduating from law school, Swern joined the Office of the District Attorney in Kings County in 1980. During her thirty-four year tenure there, she was assigned to the Sex Crimes Bureau as an assistant district attorney. She rose through the ranks, managing the Intake and Criminal Court Bureaus before eventually becoming a First Assistant District Attorney. In 2015, she left the District Attorney’s Office, accepting a position as managing counsel for Brooklyn Defender Services.
Swern has taught as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School. She has also served as a special advisor for the Criminal Justice Council of the American Bar Association.
She was born in Flatbush and raised in Long Island, New York.