Flags at half-staff in honor of Justice Joseph W. Hatchett
Posted on
FROM THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS:
Justice Joseph W. Hatchett passed away on Friday, April 30. Between graduating from Florida A&M University and beginning law school at Howard University, Justice Hatchett served two years as a commissioned officer in the United States Army. He was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by Governor Reubin Askew in 1975, where he became the first African American to serve on Florida’s highest court. Almost four years later, President Jimmy Carter appointed him to the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, making him the first African American to serve on a federal appeals court in the Deep South. Earlier this year, the Florida Supreme Court Historical Society bestowed on Justice Hatchett its Lifetime Achievement Award. The award recognized “his highly distinguished career as a lawyer, his many years of extraordinary contributions to Florida’s Legal System as a highly respected member of the Judiciary, and his lifelong devotion to the improvement of the lives of others.”