Charles A. Pratt (April 2, 1909 – March 21, 1989) was an American judge.[1] He was the first Black judge in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, first elected in 1968 to the newly created 8th District Court.[1]
Pratt opened a law practice in Kalamazoo after failing to join a larger firm.[1] He recounted in a speech: "One lawyer told me that now the colored people had a lawyer of their own. I told him that I was not a lawyer for the colored people, but for all the people. That I was a Negro but did not want to be restricted because of that fact."[2]
He practiced law as an attorney from 1935 to 1968, except for the five years he served during World War II.[3]
In 1968, Pratt became the first black judge elected in Kalamazoo County.[1] He retired from the bench in 1980 due to a state law restricting the age of judges.[1]
In October 2010, a group of African-American judges and lawyers from Kalamazoo and Calhoun County, Michigan voted to establish the Charles A. Pratt Bar Association, first minority bar association in their counties.[2] The association focuses on providing legal education in the Kalamazoo community and resources for attorneys of color.[2]
In September 2023, members of the Kalamazoo County Bar Association petitioned the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners to rename an incoming justice center in downtown Kalamazoo in honor of Pratt.[4] The board voted to approve the renaming of the building to the "Judge Charles A. Pratt Justice Center" in October.[5] The building opened on December 11, 2023, replacing the Michigan Avenue Courthouse constructed in 1937.[6][7]
