First Black man on Florida Supreme Court, Joseph Hatchett, has died
Joseph Hatchett. Image via Florida Supreme Court.
The first Black man to serve on the Florida Supreme Court, former Justice
Joseph
W. Hatchett, has died at 88.
Hatchett made history becoming the first African-American to serve on Florida’s highest court. He was appointed by former Gov.
Reubin Askew in 1975, according to a news release from the court.
Hatchett continued to break barriers in his career after former President
Jimmy Carter appointed him to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1979. He became the first Black man to serve in a federal circuit that covered the Deep South.