Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 5-14-21

Feature
Joseph Hatchett, Florida’s First Black Supreme Court Justice, Laid To Rest
Former Florida
Supreme Court Justice Joseph Woodrow Hatchett was laid to rest last Saturday, May 8, 2021, in Tallahassee. His body was viewed in the State’s Ro- tunda.
Justice Hatchett died in Tallahassee on Friday, April 30, 2021. He was 88 years old, and Florida's 65th Justice since statehood was granted in 1845.
Justice Joseph Hatchett, is a native of Clearwater, (Pinellas County) FL. After graduat- ing high school, he gradu- ated from Florida A&M
JUSTICE JOSEPH WOODROW HATCHETT
University in 1954 and went on to earn a law degree from Howard University in 1959.
Hatchett entered pri- vate practice in Daytona Beach and in 1966, and was appointed as an Assistant U. S. Attorney in the Middle District of Florida. He be- came a federal magistrate in 1971 before getting ap- pointed by Gov. Rubin Askew to the Supreme Court.
In 1976, Hatchett won a statewide election to retain the Supreme Court seat.
Judge Hatchett was appointed to the Supreme Court by Gov. Reubin Askew in 1975 and served until 1979, when President Jimmy Carter named him as a federal appeals-court judge. He stepped down from the 11th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 1999 and became a partner with the Akerman law firm in Talla- hassee.
Florida later switched from holding contested elec- tions for the Supreme Court to a merit-retention system.
Hatchett said he was proud of steps that were taken by the Florida Supreme Court during his tenure to allow cameras in courtrooms and to improve disciplining of lawyers.
One of those who was a law clerk in his office and spoke at his service was Ap- pellate Judge Charles W. Wilson. He said, "Not only did Judge Hatchett serve in the state and federal judiciaries with great dis- tinction, he paved the way for many others, including his law clerks who now prac- tice in law firms, in govern- ment service, as professors in law schools and in the ju- diciary. He helped pave the way for me as I now occupy his former seat on the United States Court of Ap- peals for the Eleventh Cir- cuit. I had the privilege of serving as his law clerk in 1980, soon after his appoint- ment by President Jimmy Carter. As a law clerk fresh
out of law school, I watched Judge Hatchett exude a quiet confidence, decisive decision-making, and a sense of fairness that was shaped by his unique grasp of human problems. He brought great honor to the bench, and set a high stan- dard for his successors."
Ironically, Magistrate Wilson met his wife, Be- linda, while working with Judge Hatchett in his Tal- lahassee chambers. “She was attending college there. This year, we will celebrate our 40-year wedding anniver- sary, with our two daugh- ters, both of whom are lawyers. So, he had a pretty big impact on my career, and my family too!”
Others who were law clerks for him were: Atty. Malcolm Cunningham, Atty. Lanse Scriven, and Thomasina Williams.
Retired Supreme Court Justice Peggy Quince said: “Judge Hatchett was the epitome of a scholar and gentleman. He respected everyone. I thought the world of him. He was a really good person who did a lot for our com- munities. He was a real legal giant.”
Two of Justice Hatch- ett’s grandsons are also at- torneys. Atty. Roscoe Green practices in Tampa. Another grandson, Rashad Green, practices law in Tal- lahassee.
Rashad served as law clerk for Magistrate Wil- son in 2014-2015, on the same court that his grandfa- ther served (the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which hears appeals from the dis- trict courts in the states of Florida, Georgia and Ala- bama).
Judge Hatchett and Magistrate Wilson are still the only African Ameri- cans to have served on the court.
Judge Hatchett was preceded in death by his wife, Betty.
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