The Hon. Harold L. Cushenberry, Jr. (Ret.) is a senior associate judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Cushenberry was appointed to the bench by former President Ronald Reagan on January 29, 1986. He assumed senior status on December 16, 2015.
Cushenberry earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Harvard College in 1972. He then completed a J.D. at Georgetown University Law Center in 1975.
After graduating from law school, Cushenberry began his legal career as an attorney for the Federal Trade Commission. He served in that capacity until 1977, at which time he joined the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. As an assistant United States attorney, Cushenberry held assignments in the misdemeanor trial section, the district court grand jury section, the felony trial division, and the appellate division, sitting as Deputy Chief of the Felony Trial Division, Deputy Director of Superior Court Operations, and Executive Assistant United States Attorney.
His memberships have included the District of Columbia Bar, the American Bar Association, the Washington Bar Association, the United States Attorney’s Association, and the Black Assistants United States Attorney’s Association. He has also been involved with the District of Columbia Sentencing Commission.
Cushenberry was raised in Henderson, North Carolina, and Watertown, Connecticut, where he attended the Taft School. He is a divorced father of two daughters, having been married to Elizabeth H. Noel, former Deputy People’s Counsel for the District of Columbia.