List of justices of the Florida Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Florida is the highest judicial body in the state and sits at the apex of the Florida State Courts System. Its membership consists of seven justices–one of whom serves as Chief Justice–who are appointed by the Governor of Florida to 6-year terms and remain in office if retained in a general election near the end of each term.[1]

List of justices

edit
  •  *  denotes justices who served as chief justice for at least part of their tenure on the court while   denotes currently-serving justices.
No. Justice[2] Assumed office Vacated office Succeeded Appointed by Reason for leaving Notes
1   Thomas Douglas*
(1790–1855)
January 1846 1851 Inaugural Legislature
2   Thomas Baltzell*
(1804–1866)
January 1846 1851 Inaugural Legislature Defeated
3   George S. Hawkins
(1808–1878)
January 1846 1851 Inaugural Legislature
4   George W. MacRae
(1802–1858)
January 4, 1847 January 7, 1848 Inaugural
5   Joseph B. Lancaster
(1790–1856)
January 10, 1848 1853 Inaugural
6   Walker Anderson*
(1801–1857)
January 1, 1851 May 4, 1853 Inaugural Legislature Resigned
7   Leslie A. Thompson
(1806–1874)
January 1, 1851 1853 Inaugural Legislature Defeated
8 Albert G. Semmes
(1810–1883)
January 1, 1851 1853 Inaugural Legislature
9   Benjamin D. Wright
(1799–1874)
May 24, 1853 1853 Inaugural Defeated
1   Thomas Douglas*
(1637–1715)
1854 September 11, 1855 Inaugural Direct election
2   Thomas Baltzell*
(1804–1866)
1854 1859 Inaugural Direct election
10   Charles H. DuPont*
(1805–1877)
1854 1868 Inaugural Direct election
11   Bird M. Pearson*
(1803–1859)
1856 1859 Inaugural Direct election Did not run for reelection
12   William A. Forward
(1812–1865)
1860 1865 Inaugural Direct election Did not run for reelection
13   David S. Walker
(1815–1891)
1860 1865 Inaugural Direct election Resigned
14   Augustus Maxwell*
(1820–1903)
1865 1866 Inaugural William Marvin Resigned
15   James McNair Baker
(1821–1892)
1865 1868 Inaugural David S. Walker
16   Samuel J. Douglas
(1812–1873)
1866 1868 Inaugural David S. Walker
17   Ossian B. Hart
(1821–1874)
1868 1873 Inaugural Elected Governor of Florida
18   James Westcott III
(1838–1887)
1868 January 7, 1885 Inaugural Harrison Reed Resigned
19   Edwin M. Randall*
(1822–1895)
January 1869 January 7, 1885 Inaugural Harrison Reed Resigned
20 Franklin D. Fraser
(1819–1879)
January 16, 1873 May 1874 Hart Ossian B. Hart Resigned
21   Robert B. Van Valkenburgh
(1821–1888)
May 20, 1874 August 1, 1888 Fraser Died in office
22   George G. McWhorter
(1833–1891)
January 13, 1885 July 1, 1887 Randall Edward A. Perry Resigned
23   George P. Raney
(1845–1911)
January 13, 1885 May 31, 1894 Westcott Edward A. Perry Resigned
14   Augustus Maxwell*
(1820–1903)
July 1, 1887 1890 McWhorter Did not run for re-election
24   Henry L. Mitchell
(1831–1903)
August 7, 1888 January 1, 1891 Van Valkenburgh Resigned
25   R. Fenwick Taylor*
(1849–1928)
January 1, 1891 February 28, 1925 Mitchell Francis P. Fleming Retired
26   Milton H. Mabry
(1851–1919)
January 1891 1903 Maxwell Direct election Did not run for reelection
27   Benjamin S. Liddon
(1853–1909)
June 1, 1894 January 1897 Raney Resigned
28   Francis B. Carter
(1861–1937)
January 11, 1897 May 25, 1905 Liddon William D. Bloxham Resigned
29   Thomas M. Shackleford
(1859–1927)
December 1, 1902 September 1, 1917 Inaugural William Sherman Jennings Resigned
30   Robert S. Cockrell
(1866–1957)
December 1, 1902 January 2, 1917 Inaugural William Sherman Jennings Defeated
31   Evelyn C. Maxwell
(1863–1954)
December 1, 1902 February 15, 1904 Inaugural William Sherman Jennings Resigned
32   William A. Hocker
(1844–1918)
January 6, 1903 January 5, 1915 Mabry Did not run for reelection
33   James B. Whitfield
(1860–1948)
February 15, 1904 January 4, 1943 Maxwell William Sherman Jennings Retired
34   Charles B. Parkhill
(1859–1933)
May 25, 1905 January 1912 Carter Resigned
35   W. H. Ellis
(1867–1948)
January 5, 1915 November 1, 1938 Hocker Direct election Retired
36   Jefferson B. Browne*
(1857–1937)
January 2, 1917 May 20, 1925 Cockrell Direct election Resigned [3]
37   Thomas F. West
(1874–1931)
September 1, 1917 December 3, 1925 Shackleford Sidney Johnston Catts Resigned
38   William Glenn Terrell*
(1878–1964)
May 15, 1923 January 12, 1964 Parkhill Died in office
39   Louie Willard Strum
(1890–1954)
March 2, 1925 March 5, 1931 Taylor Appointed to Federal District Court
40   Armstead Brown
(1875–1951)
July 1, 1925 December 1, 1946 Browne John W. Martin Retired
41   Rivers H. Buford
(1878–1959)
December 4, 1925 April 3, 1948 West John W. Martin Retired
42   Fred Henry Davis
(1894–1937)
March 9, 1931 June 20, 1937 Strum Doyle E. Carlton Died in office
43   Roy H. Chapman
(1883–1952)
June 23, 1937 August 9, 1952 Davis Fred P. Cone Died in office
44   Elwyn Thomas
(1894–1971)
November 1, 1938 January 7, 1969 Ellis Direct election Retired
45   Alto L. Adams
(1899–1988)
November 25, 1940 October 22, 1951 Inaugural Fred P. Cone Resigned
46   Harold Sebring*
(1898–1968)
January 5, 1943 September 15, 1955 Whitfield Direct election Appointed Dean of Stetson College of Law
47 Paul D. Barns
(1894–1973)
December 2, 1946 September 1, 1949 Brown Direct election Retired
48   T. Frank Hobson
(1900–1966)
April 6, 1948 February 13, 1962 Buford Millard F. Caldwell Retired
49   B. K. Roberts*
(1907–1999)
September 1, 1949 December 1, 1976 Barns Fuller Warren Retired
50   John E. Mathews
(1892–1955)
October 23, 1951 April 29, 1955 Adams Fuller Warren Died in office
51   E. Harris Drew
(1903–1978)
August 18, 1952 January 5, 1971 Chapman Fuller Warren Retired
52   B. Campbell Thornal
(1908–1970)
May 9, 1955 November 4, 1970 Mathews Died in office
53   Stephen C. O'Connell*
(1916–2001)
October 21, 1955 October 15, 1967 Sebring LeRoy Collins Appointed president of the University of Florida
54   Millard Caldwell*
(1897–1984)
February 14, 1962 January 7, 1969 Hobson Mandatory retirement
55   Richard Ervin*
(1905–2004)
January 17, 1964 January 6, 1975 Terrell Retired
45   Alto L. Adams
(1899–1988)
November 13, 1967 August 1, 1968 O'Connell Claude R. Kirk Jr. Resigned
56   Wade L. Hopping
(1931–2009)
August 1, 1968 January 7, 1969 Adams Claude R. Kirk Jr. Defeated
57   Vassar B. Carlton*
(1912–2005)
January 7, 1969 February 28, 1974 Hopping Direct election Retired
58   James C. Adkins*
(1915–1994)
January 7, 1969 January 6, 1987 Caldwell Direct election Mandatory retirement
59   Joseph A. Boyd Jr.*
(1916–2007)
January 7, 1969 January 6, 1987 Thomas Direct election Mandatory retirement
60   David L. McCain
(1931–1986)
December 14, 1970 August 31, 1975 Thornal Claude R. Kirk Jr. Resigned before impeachment
61   Hal P. Dekle
(1917–2005)
January 5, 1971 April 30, 1975 Drew Direct election Resigned before impeachment
62   Ben Overton*
(1926–2012)
March 27, 1974 January 4, 1999 Carlton Reubin Askew Mandatory retirement
63   Arthur J. England Jr.*
(1932–2013)
January 8, 1975 August 9, 1981 Ervin Direct election Resigned
64   Alan C. Sundberg*
(1933–2002)
June 2, 1975 September 15, 1982 Dekle Reubin Askew Resigned
65   Joseph W. Hatchett
(1932–2021)
September 2, 1975 July 18, 1979 McCain Reubin Askew Appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
66   Frederick B. Karl
(1924–2013)
January 4, 1977 April 5, 1978 Roberts Direct election Resigned
67   James E. Alderman*
(1936–2021)
April 5, 1978 August 31, 1985 Karl Resigned
68   Parker Lee McDonald*
(1924–2017)
October 26, 1979 May 31, 1994 Hatchett Retired
69   Raymond Ehrlich*
(1918–2015)
December 3, 1981 January 7, 1991 England Bob Martinez Mandatory retirement
70   Leander J. Shaw Jr.*
(1930–2015)
January 10, 1983 January 6, 2003 Sundberg Mandatory retirement
71   Rosemary Barkett*
(born 1939)
November 15, 1985 April 21, 1994 Alderman Bob Martinez Appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
72   Stephen H. Grimes*
(1927–2021)
January 30, 1987 November 17, 1997 Adkins Bob Martinez Mandatory retirement
73   Gerald Kogan*
(1933–2021)
January 30, 1987 December 31, 1998 Boyd Bob Martinez Retired
74   Major B. Harding*
(born 1935)
January 28, 1991 August 31, 2002 Ehrlich Lawton Chiles Retired
75   Harry Lee Anstead*
(born 1937)
August 29, 1994 January 5, 2009 Barkett Lawton Chiles Mandatory retirement
76   Charles T. Wells*
(born 1939)
June 9, 1994 March 3, 2009 McDonald Lawton Chiles Mandatory retirement
77   Barbara Pariente*
(born 1948)
December 10, 1997 January 8, 2019 Grimes Lawton Chiles Mandatory retirement
78   R. Fred Lewis*
(born 1947)
December 7, 1998 January 8, 2019 Kogan Lawton Chiles Mandatory retirement
79   Peggy Quince*
(born 1948)
January 5, 1999 January 8, 2019 Overton Lawton Chiles / Jeb Bush Mandatory retirement
80   Raoul G. Cantero III
(born 1960)
July 10, 2002 September 6, 2008 Harding Jeb Bush Returned to private practice
81   Kenneth B. Bell
(born 1956)
January 7, 2003 October 1, 2008 Shaw Jeb Bush Returned to private practice
82   Charles Canady*
(born 1954)
August 28, 2008 Cantero Charlie Crist
83   Ricky Polston*
(born 1955)
October 1, 2008 March 31, 2023 Bell Charlie Crist Resigned
84   Jorge Labarga*
(born 1952)
January 2, 2009 Anstead Charlie Crist
85   James E. C. Perry
(born 1944)
March 11, 2009 December 30, 2016 Wells Charlie Crist Mandatory retirement
86   C. Alan Lawson
(born 1961)
December 31, 2016 August 31, 2022 Perry Rick Scott Retired
87   Barbara Lagoa
(born 1967)
January 9, 2019 December 6, 2019 Lewis Ron DeSantis Appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
88   Robert J. Luck
(born 1979)
January 14, 2019 November 19, 2019 Pariente Ron DeSantis Appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
89   Carlos G. Muñiz*
(born 1969)
January 22, 2019 Quince Ron DeSantis
90   John D. Couriel
(born 1978)
June 1, 2020 Lagoa Ron DeSantis
91   Jamie Grosshans
(born 1978/1979)
September 14, 2020 Luck Ron DeSantis
92   Renatha Francis
(born 1976/1977)
September 1, 2022 Lawson Ron DeSantis
93   Meredith Sasso
(born 1983)
May 25, 2023 Polston Ron DeSantis

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Supreme Court of Florida".
  2. ^ Succession of Justices of Supreme Court of Florida Supreme Court of Florida
  3. ^ "Lottery Today to Select A Chief Justice in Florida", The New York Times, January 2, 1923, p. 17

Further reading

edit