The Historical Society of the U. S. Courts in the Eleventh Circuit

11th Circuit

Historical News Volume VIII, Number 3

http://sites.google.com/site/circuit11history

Fall 2011

John C. Godbold Federal Building fittingly honors 11th circuit’s first chief judge -- a giant of U.S. jurisprudence By Reginald T. Hamner The ceremony held for the naming and dedication of the John C. Godbold Federal Building in Atlanta on June 6 honored one of the giant judges in the United States and the first chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The building’s naming was authorized by Public Law 111-234 on Aug. 16, 2010. The building itself is an historic structure acquired by the U.S. General Services Administration in 2005 to provide expansion space for the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which is headquartered in the Elbert P. Tuttle U.S. Court of Appeals Building at 56 Forsyth St. in downtown Atlanta. The acquired space consisted of two properties containing five structures and a surface parking lot in the FairliePoplar National Historic District adjacent to the Tuttle Building.

the historic parcels and joined to the original structures to form one building. The exterior appearance of the existing building was preserved and restored while the new construction was designed to harmonize with the historic structure by representing a modern contemporary architectural expression. The new construction contains a building entrance, security screening vestibule, secure parking, a mail handling facility and loading dock. The Godbold Building is connected by an underground tunnel to the Tuttle Building.

The interior of the historic structure was deconstructed, leaving only the building structure exposed. The major challenge in bringing this project to fruition was devising a means to support half of the existing 100-year-old load-bearing masonry The Honorable John C. Godbold, The building’s location is in an area and heavy timber building from the portrait by artist Carol Baxter Kirby of that contains the city’s finest remaining second floor through the roof in order Mableton, Ga. examples of late 19th and 20th century to remove the existing foundations Photo courtesy of Matt Davidson, “Beaux Arts” style architecture. The and heavy timber structure from the Circuit Executive’s Office property was uniquely situated to first floor, replace the old foundation provide a solution that satisfied the need for court space, and basement structures and then remove the temporary security and functional needs. supports. The Godbold Federal Building has 136,000 square feet of space. The existing building, which was rehabilitated in conformance with Department of Interior standards, contained 100,000 square feet. An additional 36,000 square feet of space was constructed on the parking lot in

The renovated historic building includes office space and support space for the circuit executive and staff, the clerk of court and staff, and the staff attorneys for the circuit. This project was accomplished as part of GSA’s Design Excellence Approach to the buildings. Emphasis See “Godbold Federal Building,” page 8

Historical News is produced as a courtesy by The Florida Bar.

Message from the president Godbold Federal Building dedication, tributes to Judge Ira DeMent and the establishment of a federal admiralty court in Key West As promised in the last issue of the Historical News, the John C. Godbold Federal Building in Atlanta, along with the dedication ceremonies, are featured in this issue. Our special thanks to Reggie Hamner for his initiative and hard work in taking the lead in making this issue come to fruition with his splendid article on the naming and dedication of the Godbold ben h. harris, jr. Federal Building. The dedication of the Federal Building in Atlanta to Judge Godbold is a fitting tribute to his remarkable judicial career as well as his service in the artillery from D-Day to the end of the allied campaign in Europe.

taken at the ceremony of Chief Judge Joel Dubina and other speakers, and especially of Mrs. Betty Godbold and family members as well as Mrs. Godbold receiving the ceremonial key and cutting the ribbon.

The Eleventh Circuit exists because of Judge Godbold’s perseverance and diligence. Moreover, his keen sense of history resulted in the establishment of this Historical Society on Jan. 17, 1983, making the Eleventh Circuit the first Circuit to have a historical society.

Finally, we are pleased to announce that a book entitled “Elbert Parr Tuttle: Chief Judge of the Civil Rights Revolution” has been written by our member Anne Emanuel, who is a law professor at Georgia State University and was a former clerk to Judge Tuttle. Published by the University of Georgia Press and available on Amazon.com, this is the first and only authorized biography of Judge Tuttle (1897-1996).

We again have David Bagwell to thank for his fine article on the establishment of the federal admiralty court in Key West in the 1820s. David highlights the role played by John W. Simonton and provides us with excerpts from Simonton’s 1826 petition “To the Members of Both Houses of Congress.” You will read tributes honoring Judge Ira DeMent by Judge Joel Dubina, Major General Robert Norris, Reggie Hamner, Ron Wise, David Byrne, Laura Wright and Debbie Hackett. Judge DeMent will be missed.

In thinking of the establishment of this Historical Society, I am reminded of a Winston Churchill quote that “all wisdom is not new wisdom.” It has been said that Churchill’s genius often lay in his historic sense, in the application of the wisdom of the past to the problems of the present. Not unlike Churchill, Judge Godbold possessed the gift of applying the wisdom of the past to the problems of the present. He indeed exhibited that historic sense in full measure in his recognition when he was chief judge of the Fifth Circuit that the Fifth Circuit had grown to a size to be at risk of being a legislature rather than a court. He saw the need for the formation of the Eleventh Circuit and caused it to happen. Judge Godbold used his acquired knowledge of how a Circuit Court of Appeals best functions and went to work to restore that process to the Fifth and initiate it in the Eleventh Circuit. A remarkable achievement and We the People are better for it.

IN THIS ISSUE: John C. Godbold Federal Building fittingly honors 11th circuit’s first chief judge -- a giant of U.S. jurisprudence....... 1 Message from the president............................................................... 2 Tributes to Judge John C. Godbold.............................................. 3-9 Tributes to Senior U.S. District Judge Ira DeMent............... 10-16 Welcome to new Clerk of Court, Jessica J. Lyublanovits.........16 John W. Simonton and the Admiralty Court’s Taming of Key West in the 1820s..............................................................................17

You will also find remarks made at the Godbold Federal Building ceremony by U.S. Congressman John Lewis as well as those of Congressman C.W. Young delivered by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich in the congressman’s absence as well as the remarks at the ceremony by Shyam Reddy, the General Services Administration’s regional administrator. Additionally, we are pleased to have photos

Tuttle biography shows how much one life can make a difference.............................................................................................23 11th Circuit Birthday Celebrations....................................................25

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Judge John C. Godbold

Godbold Federal Building represents commitment to both preserve history and protect the planet By Shyam Reddy Regional administrator, General Services Administration

Remarks at June 6, 2011, dedication

on temporary supports so that a modern parking deck could be constructed underground and beneath it. We had to connect the buildings to the Tuttle Building via an underground tunnel. The façade was blast protected and modernized, and the entire series of buildings were gutted, all systems replaced and transformed into a modern office building. And in doing so, we exposed the interior building fabric to showcase the building’s history. All of this extra effort to integrate historic preservation with sustainability.

Good morning. Thank you for that kind introduction. Congressman Lewis, Congressman Young, Mayor Reed – it’s always good to see you. Being on stage with friends helps calm the nerves. To Mrs. John Godbold and the Godbold Family, it’s an honor to be with you on this momentous occasion. Y’all must be so proud. On behalf of the administration, I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to the men and women of our armed forces as well as any veterans who are with us today. We appreciate the sacrifices that you and your families have made on behalf of the American people. Simply put . . . y’all are heroes.

In naming the Federal Building after John C. Godbold, we are memorializing Judge Godbold’s commitment to the rule of law. I am especially proud that we are doing this by preserving “Beaux Arts Style” buildings from the latter 19th and Let me begin by bringing greetings early 20th centuries. Working from from President Barack Obama and GSA this historic foundation, the courts Administrator Martha Johnson. can continue their work with pride while preserving the legacy of John C. Today punctuates a long journey Godbold. In essence, members of the of preservation, restoration and federal judiciary will be able to serve rededication. However, it also marks the American people in a way that the beginning of a new chapter in Judge Godbold, other members of the the history of these elegant buildings judiciary and the rest of America can that stood the test of time, only to be be proud of. I’ve always said that it’s resurrected and combined into one Program from the June 2011 dedication of our duty – GSA’s duty – to construct building for the federal judiciary. It the building. buildings that are worthy of the is a new chapter that blends historic American people – and this building preservation with sustainability – a core reflects that commitment. tenet of GSA’s mission. We are also celebrating the fruits of our labor; not just the labor of today, but the labor of yesterday – the backbreaking work that went into constructing these buildings in the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, we are celebrating an investment of $44 million-plus in history with a touch of sustainability to boot.

The Godbold Federal Building reflects GSA’s commitment to preserving America’s tapestried history as well as our planet for future generations. In addition to preserving turn-of-the-century buildings with more than 100 years of history, we have incorporated aspects of sustainability, as evidenced by new energy management systems, efficient use of daylight, energy efficient building systems, elimination of toxic substances, and the recycling of more than 2,500 tons or 80 percent of the demolition debris and construction waste.

As a member of the President’s Elite Green Team, GSA is honored to be playing a leading role in preserving and strengthening our national, energy and climate security by leveraging our 365-million square feet real estate portfolio, $60-billion supply chain, 220,000 vehicle fleet

This didn’t come easy. The building had to be “jacked up”

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that we have a judicial infrastructure that enables our countrymen to benefit from the U.S. judicial system that is second to none – to make sure all persons are afforded equal protection under the laws as set forth in the 14th Amendment.

and technology apparatus to help transition our country to a clean energy economy. And projects like the Godbold Federal Building support that mission. By re-investing in the Fairlie-Poplar Historic District and repurposing several buildings to create the Godbold Federal Building, we have punctuated more than 100 years of history with a renewed commitment to justice, sustainability and historic preservation. We are honoring the work of those tradesmen who built the original buildings by opting to preserve these historic landmarks in a historic district, in the name of Judge Godbold - for generations to come.

There is no other country in the world that affords its citizens the expansive rights granted by our Constitution. Whether it’s being judged by a jury of your peers or having a right to an attorney, the walls behind me and the people who work within them guarantee those rights; they defend those rights; and they honor those rights. The brick, the wood, the masonry -- and the other sustainable materials in this building -- represent strength, time and resilience. And from today forward, the building that they come together to form shall join the architectural backbone of a judicial system that we should all be proud of and, most importantly, respect and revere. Today, we are celebrating the re-purposing of these mother of earth materials for the pursuit of justice and liberty and our respect of the rule of law.

In doing so, GSA and the courts have created jobs, supported small business (small businesses performed approximately 40 percent of the work) and anchored a vibrant, sustainable and historic community – all during the most challenging economic times we’ve faced since the Great Depression. And Mayor Reed and Congressman Lewis, I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the more than $100 million in infrastructure investments we’ve made in the City of Atlanta Downtown Area over the last several years. Thanks in large part to the U.S. Federal Government, today, the Fairlie-Poplar District continues to thrive and add to its already rich history. And Atlanta is many steps closer to achieving the Mayor’s top 10 Sustainable City vision as a result.

As a lawyer, I fully appreciate the strength that this building conveys by its solid foundation, as well as, the record of public service it now symbolizes given the name it is adorned with – John C. Godbold. As an American, who considers himself fortunate to have been born in this country because his parents traveled halfway across the world in pursuit of the American dream, I honor the hallowed halls of justice within the walls behind me and

To what end are these efforts directed? Definitely to preserve our nation’s historic buildings in an environmentally responsible way – but also to ensure

The unveiling of the portrait of John C. Godbold at the dedication of the Godbold Federal Building in Atlanta

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next door in the Tuttle Building. GSA is proud to be contributing to our judicial system; to be helping our federal judges fulfill their purpose, their mission, and their duties. So today, we honor our courthouses and court administrative offices. Today, we honor our justice system. And today, we honor Judge Godbold, who exemplified the traits of a noble and just judge, not only in the courtroom, but also in the community. The breathtaking legacy of the Godbold Federal Building and the other historic structures built during the early part of last century and the fact that our nation remains the leader on the global stage proves the wisdom of investing in our infrastructure and supporting our cherished institutions. Untold challenges have tested the American spirit for over 200 years – and we, as a nation, have always,

Claudia Butler, Brenda McConnell and Sharon Stepler sing “America the Beautiful” at the Godbold Federal Building dedication

across the country; the GSA team that spent years working on it and planning this dedication event; and the courts for helping to preserve our nation’s history through the lens of sustainability. I also want to thank the architects, engineers, general contractors and the many small businesses that helped preserve the Godbold Federal Building and memorialize

Judge J.L. Edmondson and Chief Judge Joel F. Dubina at the dedication of the Godbold Federal Building in Atlanta on June 6, 2011

not only persevered, but prevailed. That unwavering strength and determination is part of our American DNA. That national DNA was expressed by President Roosevelt during the Great Depression, Judge Godbold during his time on the bench and President Obama today. Today we are celebrating a revered judge, an investment in history and an investment in the future – of great Americans bolstered by a wise and compassionate president – and the government he leads – still the greatest democracy the world has ever seen.

From left to right, Robert Lee Carroll, Connie Milligan, Bryghte Godbold, Dr. John C. Godbold Jr. and Nancy Godbold

Judge Godbold’s legacy for eternity. Thanks to your strong work ethic and commitment to the successful completion of this project, the Godbold Federal Building will serve as another stellar example of historic preservation and sustainability for the 11th Circuit. For that I am grateful. To the judges and other members of the judiciary who work day in and day out to provide a justice system worthy of the American people, thank you for your public service.

I’d like to conclude my remarks by expressing my sincere gratitude to our administrator for her support of this project and many other historic preservation projects

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Judge John C. Godbold Remarks of Congressman John Lewis at the June 6, 2011 dedication of the John C. Godbold Federal Building v. Board of Education and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, discrimination cases were being removed from state courts to federal courts. The 5th Circuit was overwhelmed by its caseload.

I thank all of you for being here today. I am so proud to see this day come. Last year, I worked with all of my colleagues in the Georgia delegation to introduce and pass a resolution to name this beautiful federal building the “John C. Godbold Federal Building.” That resolution passed unanimously, and we are here today, to honor Judge John C. Godbold and to dedicate this building to his memory.

Knowing that the backlog would delay important civil rights cases, Judge Godbold gathered the support of every district judge and every bar association within the 5th Circuit to support splitting the circuit.

Judge Godbold was born in 1920, in Coy, Ala., about 100 miles to the west of my hometown of Troy.

In 1981, Chief Judge Godbold became the chief judge of the 11th Judicial Circuit in Atlanta.

In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson appointed Judge Godbold to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. At that time, this was a very important posting because of the many civil rights cases before the circuit.

I am sorry that Judge Godbold is not alive today to receive this honor, but I would like to recognize all of the judge’s family, friends and colleagues who are here today.

Judge Godbold holds the distinction of being the only judge in the history of the United States to be the chief judge of two separate judicial circuits — the 5th, and then later the 11th Circuit in Atlanta.

Today, and each time we enter this building, we will be reminded of the significant achievements of Judge Godbold and his many years of service to this country. Therefore, it is fitting and appropriate that we dedicate this building to his memory today.

In the early 1950s, the Fifth Circuit was the busiest in the nation. After the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown

From left to right, the Rev. Dr. Richard Godbold, Mrs. Betty Godbold, Chief Judge Joel Dubina, Shyam Reddy at the lectern, Congressman John Lewis, Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed

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Mrs. Betty Godbold with granddaughter Bryghte Godbold

Ceremonial key to the Godbold Federal Building was presented to Mrs. Betty Godbold at the June 2011 dedication of the building

Ribbon-cutting with Chief Judge Joel Dubina, Congressman John Lewis, Mrs. Betty Godbold, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Regional GSA Administrator Shyam Reddy Photos courtesy of the General Services Administration

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Godbold Federal Building, from page 1 on environmental responsibility was an integral part of the process. The Godbold Federal Building is a jewel in thriving downtown Atlanta.

widow and his wife of 67 years, was invited to unveil the portrait of the judge that will hang in the John C. Godbold Federal Building. Mrs. Godbold expressed the family’s deep appreciation for honoring her late husband and stated her love for the court and the court family. She was presented a ceremonial key to the new building.

The ceremony naming and dedicating the building was held in the beautiful lobby of the Elbert P. Tuttle Courthouse. Chief Judge Joel F. Dubina of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals presided. The U.S. Army Atlanta Recruiting Company posted the colors. Following the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of the National Anthem, the Rev. Doctor Richard R. Godbold, son of Judge Godbold, offered the invocation.

Following closing remarks by Chief Judge Dubina and the invocation offered by The Rev. Doctor Godbold, a trio of court personnel sang “America the Beautiful” with acoustic guitar accompaniment. Vocalists included Claudia Butler, Brenda McConnell and Sharon Stepler. Those present then exited the Tuttle Building and assembled at the entrance of the John C. Godbold Federal Building.

U.S. Rep. John Lewis sponsored the legislation naming the John C. Godbold Federal Building. He represents the Atlanta metropolitan area and noted in his eloquent remarks the uniqueness of the naming a federal building in Atlanta, Georgia for an Alabama judge. Congressman Lewis, an Alabama native, praised the leadership of Judge Godbold in the creation of the Eleventh Circuit, as well as his distinguished service as a judge on both the Fifth and Eleventh United States Courts of Appeals. Judge Godbold earned a singular place in the history of the federal courts by presiding as chief judge of two U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals. He was chief judge of the Fifth when the Eleventh was created and became its first chief judge in 1981, when Alabama, Florida and Georgia formed the new circuit.

Following the formal ribbon cutting and the unveiling of a bronze plaque reflecting the name of the building, those present were invited to tour the new building. In addition to the exterior plaque, a bronze plaque inside the building chronicles Judge Godbold’s distinguished career of public service, including his tenure as director of the Federal Judicial Center (1986-1989) in Washington, D.C. A reception followed the ceremonial naming, dedication and ribbon cutting. Judge Godbold grew up on a farm in Coy, Ala. He graduated from Auburn University and following service in World War II earned his law degree from Harvard Law School. He first practiced law in Montgomery, Ala., with the late Richard Taylor Rives, a former chief judge of the Fifth Circuit (and senior judge on the Eleventh Circuit). Judge Godbold was the senior partner to the successful firm of Rives and Godbold when he was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. He assumed senior status in 1987, continuing to serve on the court as well as serving as the director of the Federal Judicial Center and as a professor of law at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law. He died in December 2009.

Congressman C. W. “Bill” Young of Florida was recognized for the role he played in securing authorization and funding for the Godbold Federal Building. The congressman was unable to be present and his remarks were delivered by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich from the Middle District of Florida. Congressman Young was at Normandy Beach for a commemoration. He sent vials of sand from the historical place for Chief Judge Dubina and former Chief Judge Larry Edmondson, who was recognized for initiating the idea of naming the new building for Judge Godbold.

Judge Godbold was named the Leslie S. Wright Distinguished Professor of Law at Cumberland School of Law in 1990, where he taught appellate advocacy for a number of years. In 1996, Judge Godbold received the Edward J. Devitt Award in recognition of Distinguished Service to Justice. He was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor in 2002. During his judicial career, he was also the recipient of numerous honorary degrees.

Both the mayor of Atlanta, Kasim Reed, and Shyam K. Reddy delivered welcoming remarks. Reddy, regional administrator for GSA’s Region 4, outlined that agency’s efforts in bringing the building to its new and purposeful life. Chief Judge Dubina recognized Judge Godbold’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and other Godbold family members who were present. Judge Godbold’s former staff, law clerks, and law partners also attended. The members of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals were present and recognized on this important occasion.

The Godbold Federal Building is a fitting tribute to one committed to the fair and effective administration of justice. It is further appropriate that his leadership as the Circuit’s first chief judge be memorialized in this magnificent annex to the Elbert P. Tuttle U.S. Court of Appeals Building, home of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Elizabeth “Betty” Showalter Godbold, Judge Godbold’s

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Judge John C. Godbold

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Judge Ira DeMent

Senior U.S. District Judge Ira DeMent Ira DeMent, 79, died on July 16, 2011. At the time of his death, he was serving as a senior U.S. District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. Following a distinguished legal career, he was appointed to the U.S. District Court by President George Bush in March 1992. He assumed senior status in April 2002.

Judge DeMent was honored throughout his distinguished legal career. The Alabama State Bar presented its Judicial Award of Merit to Judge DeMent in 1998. He was the third recipient of Marion Military Institute Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2003. The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, presented its Rockefeller Public Service Award in Management of Social Conflict to Judge DeMent in 1976.

Judge DeMent was born in Birmingham, Ala., on Dec. 21, 1931. He was the son of the late Ira DeMent Jr. and Helen Sparks DeMent. He graduated from Marion Military Institute and earned both his A.B. degree and a law degree from The University of Alabama.

The Sigma Chi Fraternity recognized him with the honor designation as a Significant Sig in 1998. He was initiated into the University of Alabama Iota Iota Chapter in 1953. He was honored with He excelled as an attorney in both the the Award of Distinguished Service public and private arenas. He began Portrait of U.S. District Judge Ira DeMent by the International Association of his legal career as law clerk to Justice by artist Jie Ruan; photo courtesy of Lori Firefighters for his leadership while Pelham J. Merrill on the Supreme Court Thrower, Middle District of Alabama representing the City of Montgomery of Alabama. He served as both an Police and Fire Departments following assistant attorney general of Alabama and an assistant the tragic fire at Dale’s Restaurant. He led the efforts that U.S. attorney. While still engaged in private practice, he resulted in a new fire code for the City of Montgomery. was appointed acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District He was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Alabama by Chief U.S. District Judge Frank M. Johnson of the United States, all federal district courts in Alabama Jr. in 1969. He was later nominated twice by President and two U.S. Courts of Appeal, the Fifth and Eleventh. He Richard M. Nixon to be the U.S. attorney for the Middle was also admitted to the U.S. Tax Court, the U.S. Court of District of Alabama and following U.S. Senate confirmation Military Appeals, the U.S. Customs Court and U.S. Court he held that office until 1977. A senior member of the of Claims. He served in 1985 as chief judge, Wake Island judiciary hailed him “as the finest U.S. attorney in the Court of Appeals. Middle District of Alabama in his memory.” Ira DeMent was a Methodist and a 32nd Degree Scottish He was a lecturer and instructor in both civilian and Rite Mason and Shriner. He was a member of Phi Alpha government legal seminars. He served as special counsel Delta Legal Fraternity and the American Inns of Court. He to three governors of Alabama. was a member of numerous local, state and national legal Beside his private and public areas of legal practice, he associations. had a distinguished military career while rising through Honorary Pallbearers at Judge DeMent’s funeral service the ranks from Second Lieutenant, Infantry, U.S. Army were Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Joel F. Dubina, U.S. Circuit Reserves to Major General, U.S. Air Force Reserves. His Judge Ed Carnes, Chief U.S. District Judge W. Keith final military assignment was as mobilization assistant Watkins, U.S. District Judges Myron H. Thompson and to the judge advocate general, headquarters U.S. Air Mark E. Fuller, Senior U.S. District Judges Truman M. Hobbs Force, Washington, D.C. This position is the highest rank a and W. Harold Albritton, III, Major General Robert W. member of the Reserve Judge Advocate Corps can attain. Norris, USAF (Ret.), Major General Will Hill Tankersley, USAR Major General DeMent received many military awards and (Ret.), Major General Thomas W. Elliott, USANG (Ret.), Col. decorations including the Legion of Merit and Meritorious Reginald T. Hamner, USAFR (Ret.), and Robert W. Davis, Esq. Service Medal. The U.S. Air Force Distinguished Service Excerpt from Judge Ira DeMent’s obituary provided by Medal was awarded on the occasion of his retirement from Reginald T. Hamner. the U.S. Air Force Reserve in 1989.

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Judge Ira DeMent Ira DeMent, a patriot

In 1982, Ira became the reserve adviser to the deputy judge advocate general, Air Force Headquarters, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. When I was appointed in 1983 as the deputy Air Force judge advocate general, our careers merged when Ira became my reserve adviser. This was a period when the Reserve and National Guard personnel were increasingly integrated with and supportive of the active duty forces.

By Major General Robert W. Norris, U.S. Air Force (Ret.) My recollection of my friend and colleague Ira DeMent is that of patriot. Throughout his long and distinguished legal career as a practicing attorney, an assistant state attorney general, as an assistant U.S. attorney, and as the U.S. attorney, special counsel and trusted adviser to three Alabama governors, and a federal district judge, he always, and I must underscore always, had time to serve his country as a military officer.

Judge DeMent was extremely valuable as an expert in reserve judge advocate matters. I confidently relied on him for his expertise and advice. No matter how heavy the workload in his civilian responsibilities and practice, he was always available for consultation and advice. When I became the Air Force judge advocate general, Ira graciously agreed to continue serving as my reserve adviser.

Judge DeMent was the

One of the accomplishments that I am driving force behind the most proud is the building of the new 50,000-square- establishment of the foot building to house a Judge Advocate General’s much expanded Judge Advocate General’s School School Foundation. at Maxwell Air Force Base The foundation is a in Montgomery. This is a multi-million dollar, non-profit established state-of-the-art teaching to enhance and support facility containing moot courtrooms, classrooms, the mission of the JAG auditoriums, library and faculty and staff offices. School with funds A new project of this magnitude must compete not available from for scarce resources with appropriated funds other projects within the Air Force and the Department of Defense. If it survives this process, it must then survive the political process in Congress. Judge DeMent, through his friendship and close professional association with Congressman Bill Dickinson, was instrumental in the project receiving final congressional approval. Congressman Dickinson at that time was chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Judge DeMent worked tirelessly seeking project approval and protecting the project from budget cuts, even after his retirement in 1989.

Ira DeMent in his U.S. Air Force uniform/ Photo courtesy of Reggie Although we grew up in Hamner different neighborhoods

in Birmingham, Ala., we both attended Philips High School in Birmingham, Marion Military Institute in Marion, Ala., and the University of Alabama, receiving an undergraduate and a law degree. After receiving our law degrees and being admitted to practice in Alabama, we began our separate legal careers. I entered the Air Force as a career judge advocate, and Ira began a clerkship for Alabama Supreme Court Justice Pelham Merrill in Montgomery. He later served as an assistant Alabama attorney general, a private practitioner, a U.S. attorney and culminated his career as a U.S. federal district judge. Judge DeMent began his military career as a young infantry officer on active duty as an infantry commander and communications officer in the Army of Occupation, West Germany. After released from active duty, he joined the ready reserve and thereafter served in various troop and staff assignments. He also taught at the Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Ga. He was honorably discharged from the Army Reserve in 1974 as a Lieutenant Colonel, Infantry. Thereafter, he was immediately commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force Reserve and assigned as a reserve judge advocate at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery. He later served as a senior reserve judge advocate at Air University at Maxwell and as a senior judge advocate at Headquarters, Strategic Air Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha, Neb.

After completion of the school, Judge DeMent was the driving force behind the establishment of the Judge Advocate General’s School Foundation. The foundation is a non-profit established to enhance and support the continued, next page

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Judge Ira DeMent they first make angry.” Over the last 30 years, I have been in courtrooms with some of the finest trial lawyers in the country. Ira DeMent could hold his own with any of them, and was still always a gentleman.

mission of the JAG School with funds not available from appropriated funds -- funds that provide distinguished guest speakers, library and student support and annual projects requested by the school. As a fitting tribute to Judge DeMent’s military service, he was awarded, upon his retirement in 1989, The Distinguished Service Medal. This decoration is awarded to senior military general officers who distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service in duties of great responsibility. That is an extremely appropriate description of Judge DeMent’s military service and a tribute to his long and distinguished service. A patriot indeed.

He was a master at cross-examination. The capital murder case that we were appointed to involved a defense of insanity. The state put a psychologist on the stand who had examined our client and who testified he was sane. This psychologist was on the stand for a whole day on direct examination by the state.

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Ira’s cross-examination took fewer than three minutes. He stood up and asked the psychologist how long he had been in private practice. The psychologist told him “approximately two years.”

My Friend, Ira DeMent By Ronald W. Wise

Ira then asked him “If you or a loved one had a severe psychological problem and you took that family member or loved one to the psychologist and he met you at the door and said: ‘Come on in. The paint on my shingle has not even dried yet,’ would you feel comfortable?” The psychologist sat on the witness stand for several seconds before responding, “That is a very difficult question.”

Thirty years ago I received a phone call from Montgomery County Circuit Judge William Gordon. He asked me to come to his office and since I had only been practicing law for about a year, I knew that I had done something wrong and was in trouble. When I arrived, he told me that he had a capital murder case with other lawyers, that had to be retried judges and clients was due to a reversal by the Alabama Supreme of the upmost Court and that Ira DeMent had agreed importance. to take the appointed case if he could find a young lawyer to work it with him. Judge Gordon asked me to serve in that capacity. I had never met Ira DeMent but certainly knew of his reputation. I immediately accepted. Within a year of the appointment, he hired me as an associate. He told me if things worked out, he would make me a partner in a year. A year went by and I became his partner. He was a man of his word.

He believed that civility

Ira told him that it was not that difficult and the psychologist responded, “You are correct, I would feel uncomfortable,” at which point Ira stated, “That’s all I have, your Honor.” He would always say that it is not the amount of time that you are up at the podium asking questions, it is what you say, and convey to the jury that is of importance. He was a strong, firm believer in due process, fairness and compassion. He believed that everyone was entitled to due process and respect regardless of their status or background. This was true when I practiced law with him and continued throughout his tenure as a U.S. district court judge.

What I learned from Ira DeMent about being a lawyer and a human being cannot fit in an article, or probably even in a book, but I would like to share with you some of the highlights.

A former U.S. attorney. A retired two star general in the Air Force Reserve.

He believed that civility with other lawyers, judges and clients was of the upmost importance. I very seldom saw him get angry about anything that occurred in or out of the courtroom and he would always say “those whom the gods destroy

A U.S. district court judge. But to me he will always be remembered as my mentor and friend.

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Judge Ira DeMent Ira DeMent – U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama

the Fifth Circuit came back from his office with so many corrections in red that I thought someone had been stabbed in close proximity to it. Four attempts later, he approved the brief for submission to the Fifth Circuit. Only later did I learn that Mr. DeMent, while in law school, proofed master’s theses and doctoral dissertations in fulfillment of degree requirements for the University of Alabama.

By David B. Byrne Jr. My first day as a new assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, I entered Mr. DeMent’s office. Across from his desk were the framed words “Duty, Honor, Country” -- the motto of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point. He pointed to the inscription and said that was the principle that guided the office and would guide the execution of my duties. He handed me an undated letter of resignation and asked me to sign it and return it. Needless to say, he made his point, and I understood his expectations.

Mr. DeMent was a dynamic prosecutor who aggressively prosecuted white collar criminals, and strongly supported federal law enforcement agencies. He instilled in each of us the concept that “for those to whom much is given; much is required.” He gave me the opportunity to try complex cases to verdict at a very early stage of my career before the Honorable Frank M. Johnson, Jr. That opportunity was a graduate course in how to try cases in federal court.

I will forever be indebted to Mr. DeMent as a mentor and teacher. Ira DeMent insisted that he review any brief filed by his office in the U.S. Court of Appeals. My first brief to

From 1971-1975, Mr. DeMent’s office had unparalleled success in the prosecution of criminal cases. The successes were the direct result of the “tone at the top.” He expected excellence in the representation of the United States; his guidance to each of us was that the United States and his office were never to be embarrassed, in or out of the courtroom. Ira DeMent was instrumental in having the U.S. Justice Department intervene and represent the interest of Alabama mental health patients at Partlow. I drove with him to Partlow and observed young mental health patients virtually unattended and chewing on gravel and grass. Mr. DeMent looked at me and said: “This is unacceptable; we are going to change this.” What followed was the landmark case of Wyatt v. Stickney, in which U.S. District Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr. ruled that committed patients to Alabama mental health facilities had a “right to treatment” under the Constitution. Ira DeMent was a patriot, a prosecutor without peer, a mentor, and most important, a lifelong friend and adviser.

***

The Honorable Ira DeMent By Joel F. Dubina, Chief Judge, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals

Shortly after becoming U.S. Attorney, Ira DeMent held his U.S. Attorney Manual at a press conference. Photo courtesy of Reggie Hamner

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I first met Ira DeMent when I returned to Montgomery in 1973 to serve as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Robert E. Varner. At that time, Ira was serving as U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama having been appointed by President Richard Nixon. continued, next page

Judge Ira DeMent During the year that I clerked for Judge Varner, I witnessed Ira and his assistant U.S. attorneys try many cases, both criminal and civil. He had a small but superb staff of outstanding lawyers. I specifically remember Broward Segrest, David Byrne, Bo Perry, Jerry Wood, Calvin Pryor and Ken Vines. During that year, I do not remember the U. S. Attorney’s Office ever losing a criminal case. Much of the credit for that goes to Ira’s terrific leadership as U.S. attorney and his administrative skills in assembling such an outstanding staff of lawyers.

I considered Ira more than a colleague. He was a personal friend, who loved his family and friends. He was proud of the many accomplishments of his lovely wife, Ruth, and his son Charles.

After I finished my clerkship, I practiced law for 10 years in Montgomery, Ala., and occasionally litigated with and against Ira. He was the perfect advocate. He fought hard for his clients but yet was respectful and courteous to opposing counsel. Ira was an exceptional lawyer and an exceptional person.

By Laura F. Wright*

Like all of those who knew him well, I, too, will miss him.

***

Judge DeMent: Loyalty, duty and integrity Judge DeMent sought to instill three qualities in his law clerks: Loyalty, duty and integrity. Those three qualities form the vertices of a triangle, he would explain to each of his law clerks upon their arrivals and departures. David McTaggart fondly remembers the last day of his clerkship in 2002. Judge DeMent called David into his office. He pulled out a red pen and a small yellow post-it note, and drew a triangle on the post-it note. He marked up the triangle, saying, “Dave, you’ve been a loyal and hard worker, and you’ve taken your duty seriously and with integrity. Those are the most important things. Always remember the triangle.” Judge DeMent had written “loyalty” at the top of the triangle and “duty” and “integrity” at the bottom corners. Judge DeMent’s words remain etched in David’s memory, and today, nearly a decade later, the faded yellow note is still posted directly above David’s desk.

Even in the face When I applied for a U.S. Magistrate position in 1983, of opposition, he Ira was one of my strongest supporters. Then, ironically, in always held firm to 1985, when Judge Varner took what he believed senior status and I was being considered as his replacement, was a trial judge’s Ira was one of my competitors. At some point in the process, he chief duty: To apply withdrew his name, as did George the law as written, Azar, and they both supported me. I will always be appreciative without regard to of the encouragement I received personal beliefs and from each of these outstanding lawyers. Fortunately, Ira continued without creating new to pursue his goal of serving the Middle District of Alabama as a law. Judge DeMent U.S. district judge and, in 1992, he faithfully carried out was appointed to a judgeship by President George H.W. Bush. that duty, no matter Ira also served our country the cost. admirably in the military. He retired as a major general in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and proudly displayed a tag on the front of his automobile depicting his two stars. During his illustrious career, Ira was involved in numerous professional and civic organizations and he also received many military and professional awards.

Judge DeMent fully exhibited the traits he espoused and led by example. Reflecting on her clerkship, Risa Kaufman, 199798, said, “For a new law school graduate, a year of clerking for Judge DeMent was worth five spent anywhere else. We learned that much and worked that hard. His courage, conviction and commitment to justice, and his exceedingly high expectations, inspired our deep loyalty and sense of duty.”

During his years on the bench, Ira served the people of the Middle District of Alabama with great distinction. He had a number of high profile cases, including one he inherited from me involving the Alabama Department of Youth Services. Ira was a stern, yet fair, jurist, and he was a credit to the federal judiciary and this state and nation.

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And it is true that, for nearly two decades, Judge DeMent faithfully performed the duties of his judicial office and administered justice to all litigants before him, without partiality. Through his judicial performance, he taught his law clerks that all litigants should be treated with dignity and that every litigant in every case deserved an opportunity to be heard. As Matt Henderson, 2001-02, recalls, Judge DeMent “always listened to both sides of an argument before making any decision,” and constantly reiterated to his law clerks the importance of due process. Judge DeMent also taught his law clerks that extraordinary cases should not receive special treatment over the more ordinary ones, and that the law must be followed, regardless of personal belief or feelings. Even in the face of opposition,

Judge Ira DeMent remember Liz Kleinberg and Mike Kanarick, 1998-99.

he always held firm to what he believed was a trial judge’s chief duty: To apply the law as written, without regard to personal beliefs and without creating new law. Judge DeMent faithfully carried out that duty, no matter the cost. He was a leader in both civil and criminal law. In the interstices of the civil law, Judge DeMent’s countless opinions were at the forefront of the development of constitutional law and civil rights. For example, he was instrumental in reshaping the child welfare system in Alabama through his enforcement and monitoring of a consent decree in a class action suit against the Alabama Department of Human Resources. In the criminal context, Judge DeMent’s prolific career – both as the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama for eight years and as a criminal defense lawyer – provided a foundation for an abundant understanding of the criminal process and for the imperative of ensuring the constitutional and procedural rights of criminal defendants. With his brilliant mind and abiding sense of fairness, Judge DeMent made an extraordinary impact on the law that will continue for generations to come.

He interacted with his law clerks on a daily basis not only about weighty legal matters, but also, as Liz and Mike recall, about lighter matters, such as the significance of Moon Pies and RC Cola. Judge DeMent also enjoyed having fun and included his law clerks in activities, such as cruising Lake Martin in his boat affectionately named “Miss Ruth” after his wife. As aptly stated by Chad Stewart, 1999-2000, “The Judge was not just a boss. He was a friend, a mentor, and someone you could count on.” Add to all of that a great sense of humor, and the uncanny ability to get straight to the point. Robert Beeman, 1994-95, remembers when he first met Judge DeMent. After discussing Robert’s service in the U.S. Marine Corps, Judge DeMent said, “Well, Robert, I’ll ask you one more question. Do you understand the meaning and the difference between, ‘Yes sir,’ ‘No sir,’ and ‘I don’t know sir?’” Robert said, “Yes sir,” and Judge DeMent said, “You’re hired.” Judge DeMent also loved to cook. Unlike most men of his day, Judge DeMent was a connoisseur in the kitchen, and from time to time he took delight in not only sharing his original recipes with his law clerks, but sharing his finished results: hickory smoked spare ribs, Quiche Lorraine, Coq au Vin and French pot roast flamed with cognac. The latter original recipe is published in the 1986 edition of the Marion Military Institute Cookbook.

Judge DeMent lived with integrity, both on and off the bench. In his desk drawer was a well-worn Bible, and he often quoted Luke 12:48. He firmly believed that “[f]or unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” He believed that he had been given much – a loving and beautiful wife, a cherished son, high honors in the military that included the rank of major general, a lifetime judicial appointment to “administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich,” and two faithful judicial assistants, Bonnie Lane, who worked for him for 30 years, and LaDonna Vinson – and, as a result, he spent a lifetime committed to his family and serving his country and the law.

Judge DeMent had a profound impact on the professional and personal lives of his 27 law clerks. We will always be grateful for the example he provided us and perhaps, most of all, for instilling in us the qualities of loyalty, duty and integrity. *Laura Wright worked with Judge DeMent for 11 years, both as a term and career law clerk. continued, next page

Judge DeMent fully appreciated the importance and difficulty of being a federal judge, and he took his duties seriously. As he told Lynn Zehrt, 1998-99, the case challenging Alabama’s school prayer law (Chandler v. James) was one of the hardest for him because of his own personal, Christian beliefs. Even when decisions were not popular, he was committed to applying the law as written. He was a man of tremendous courage. Desiring that his law clerks succeed both professionally and personally, Judge DeMent was caring and nurturing. He would “engage us in critical thinking about the best ways to address and resolve cases, and [he] was always mindful of cultivating us as attorneys,”

Judge Ira DeMent and his former law clerks at the April 2002 senior status portrait unveiling ceremony in Montgomery, Ala./ Photo courtesy of Laura F. Wright.

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Judge Ira DeMent A Friend and Mentor By Debbie Hackett, Clerk of Court, Middle District of Alabama It is an honor and privilege to pay tribute to Judge Ira DeMent.

judge. I then became the clerk of court for the 15th Judicial Circuit and worked with him when he had cases before the court. Judge DeMent was a distinguished, well-respected member of the bar, and I enjoyed getting to know him through the years of his practicing in the state court. He was always kind, respectful and well thought of by those who came in contact with him or worked with him.

On July 16, 2011, the Alabama State Bar and the Federal Judiciary lost a most distinguished member at the age of 79.

Judge DeMent was appointed as a U.S. district judge for the Middle District of Alabama in April 1992. I was fortunate to be hired by the court as the clerk of court in 1999. I am thankful that I got to work with and benefit from Judge DeMent’s wise counsel and friendship for the last 12 years of his life.

Judge DeMent was a friend and a mentor to me for the 30 years that I was blessed to have known him. I first met Judge DeMent in 1981 when he was in private practice Ira DeMent/ Photo courtesy of Reggie and I was a law clerk Hamner for a state circuit

Judge DeMent throughout his life served his country with a distinguished military career, was an accomplished lawyer, was a distinguished judge and a devoted family man. He had an abiding sense of duty to his country and served the legal profession and the bench with honor and integrity. He expected excellence from those around him and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to have interacted, worked with and learned from him throughout my career. Judge DeMent was a wonderful mentor and friend whom I will certainly miss, but never forget.

Meet Jessica J. Lyublanovits: Clerk, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida Jessica J. Lyublanovits was appointed clerk of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida, on Jan. 3. The court maintains divisional offices in Pensacola, Panama City, Tallahassee and Gainesville. Lyublanovits completed her undergraduate studies at the University of South Florida, and received her Juris Doctor degree from Stetson University College of Law. She began her career in the Middle District of Florida in May 1999, serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Elizabeth Kovachevich, and continued her service in the Clerk’s Office as an environmental quality manager until she was promoted to the position of chief deputy clerk in June 2004. Besides serving on various committees for the U.S. Courts and Administrative Office, Lyublanovits also is active in the Federal Court Clerks Association’s Conference Planning Subcommittee, is the membership chair for the International Association for Court Administration, participates on the Federal Court Practice Committee for The Florida Bar and is a member of the Federal Bar Association.

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John W. Simonton and the Admiralty Court’s taming of Key West in the 1820s By David A. Bagwell Those folks who have been to Key West since the Spanish ceded it to America – and isn’t that most everybody by now? – have probably strolled down Simonton Street, having no real idea that it is named for John W. Simonton, a principal founder of American Key West. Like most of us, they probably just want a Margarita or a cold beer, and maybe a Sloppy Joe -- and to see Hemingway’s weird 1885 Courthouse in Key West/Provided by Steven M. cats’ feet. Larimore, court administrator/clerk of court, Southern

OK, so now back to Key West.

John Watson Simonton was apparently a native of New Jersey who developed commercial interests in the South and in Cuba (since French and Spanish times, the coastal cities of the Deep South had maintained extensive ties with Cuba). At some point, Simonton lived in Mobile, and though there is little historical record of him here in Mobile, history seems to preserve his status as a Mobilian and as father of Key West mainly because of one remarkable 1835 letter.3

District of Florida The Federal Courthouse in Key West is actually on Simonton Street. But who among us lawyers and judges actually knows that Simonton was the main proponent of having a federal admiralty court in Key West, and that having an admiralty court in Key West was viewed in the 1820s as the key to regularizing – maybe even civilizing – Key West? A perfect address, for our federal courthouse there.

In that year, John Rodman of St. Augustine, who already knew a good bit about Key West, decided to learn more about the place and wrote to William Adee Whitehead, who was either then or shortly would become mayor of Key West, until he was sacked for his strangely modern support of an occupational tax. In December of 1835, Whitehead wrote back his view of the early history of the place; a copy of the letter is apparently in the P.K. Yonge Memorial Library of Florida History at the University of Florida. Here’s the most important paragraph of it for our purposes, odd 19th-century capitalization and punctuation and all:

It isn’t the purpose of this little bitty piece to be a history of Key West. There are some pretty good popular histories of Key West online1 and probably some published scholarly works in Florida libraries, of which Alabama jackleg local historians like me are unaware. The modest purpose of this is more accurately to footnote the role of John Simonton and the admiralty court in Key West’s early development. There’s no question that wrecking and salvage were major parts of the economy of Key West in the 1820s. But it seems to be believed by historians that wrecking and salvage were a total mess in the Key West area until a U.S. admiralty court was established, which popular historians incorrectly peg at 1827. The actual story seems to be more complicated than that, although the issue would profit by more research. The historical backdrop and time line of all this is important. Florida came into the United States in 1819 by what is generally called the Adams-Onis Treaty between Spain and the United States. In 1822 the Territory of Florida was organized, consisting of the Florida remains of “West Florida”2 with its capital in Pensacola, and “East Florida” with its capital at St. Augustine, and a new capital was created in Tallahassee, as they say “conveniently between the two.” Florida became a state in 1845, so all of what we are talking about here was during the U.S. Territorial Period.

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On 26th August 1815 for some military service rendered to the [Spanish] Government by Juan P. Salas, Don Juan de Estrada, then governor of Florida granted to him the Island of Key West, but nothing was done by him in the way of settlement or improvement, and the Island had the same wild aspect it had worn for ages, when on 20th December 1821, Salas sold his right, title and interest to John W. Simonton Esq. then of Mobile, who met with Salas in Havana. Having heard of the advantageous situation of the Harbor & etc., Mr. Simonton was induced, from the certain prospect of improvement throughout the country, by the cession of the United States, (which his mercantile experience led him to foresee must advance the interests of a settlement at this point,) to give Two thousand Dollars for the Island, and on the 19th January 1822, took possession. Soon after making the purchase Mr. Simonton sold one half of his interest to the John Whitehead & John W. Fleeming [sic] Esqs also of Mobile at that time, and another quarter to Messrs. John Warner and John Mountain, whose interest is vested in Col. P.C. Greene, who resides on the Island.

We all know from various treasure salvage cases in Florida and in the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits that Spanish ships

Key West, from preceding page of “Ports of Entry” was established by the United States,4 in the case of Key West, upon the petition of Simonton himself.5 As Simonton said, Americans who didn’t bring their salvage cargo into the United States through a port of entry were in legal trouble.

from South America on their way home to Spain sailed by the Keys and occasionally foundered there, and apparently from that point forward there developed quite a salvage or wrecking business, the scope of which is beyond this paper. From Simonton’s 1826 petition to Congress asking for an admiralty court at Key West, we learn that before it existed, salvage litigation was either arbitrated by informal custom or, if a court order were needed, recourse was had to Nassau or to Havana. Simonton’s petition said:

So, when the territorial court system in Key West was held by the District Court for South Carolina to 1891 Federal Courthouse in Key West, where the have been invalid and incompetent Southern District of Florida held court until 1932 until constitutionally to adjudicate the Navy took it over. It is now the Museum of Art and salvage claims, naturally the History/ Provided by Steve Larimore salvage court and its proceedings basically collapsed and people “Nor are the people of the Island [of Key West] alone quit buying cargo out of the Key West Salvage Court. interested in this business. The frequent wrecks which take Whitehead noted in his 1835 letter – with the exuberant place along the reef of Florida, makes it matter of interest capitalization of the early 19th century -- that after the to the citizens of our commercial towns, who of course are creation of the Admiralty Court: in want of some tribunal competent and independent, which, in reference to all the circumstances, may decide upon the amount of salvage, properly chargeable on the various shipwrecks that take place. The property when abandoned must in some way or other be disposed of. The wrecker, with a view to his own interest, will carry it to that point, where least hazard from the dangers of the sea will be encountered, and where on its arrival, it may most speedily be decided on. Heretofore, for the want of a court, the parties interested have consented to refer the matter to arbitration, and thereby to have the salvage ascertained; this most certainly they had not merely the power, but the right to do . . . .

“the Island, which had previously been held in common, was surveyed and divided among the four proprietary interests, and they retain undiminished, with the exception of a few sales of town lots, the portions then allotted to each. Since that time the Town has increased in size and population, and the character of its inhabitants has risen considerably for the introduction of many families of great worth and respectability, bringing with them and spreading among their fellow citizens a desire for the privileges, protection and advantages of social order and wholesome restraint. It is now the seat of Justice for the County of Monroe, and the residence of the officers of Superior Court of the Southern Judicial District of Florida having Maritime Jurisdiction. It is also a Port of Entry enjoying all the privileges of the largest seaports of the Country, and a Military Post. It has a Court House, Custom House, and other buildings of respectable size and appearance, although of course not to be compared with those in the older sections of the Union, and the private buildings erected are assuming annually greater marks of taste and comfort in their construction.”

Previous to the treaty which ceded Florida, persons engaged in wrecking were in the habit of carrying property thus obtained to New Providence (read: Nassau) or to Cuba. They were points which could most easily be reached -- at less expense and at less hazard; and of course, were resorted to in preference to those which were more distant. The consequence was that the revenue of the United States was thereby impaired. To prevent this, Congress early after the cession of Florida passed a law, requiring that all wrecked property should be brought to the United States, and denouncing against those who should attempt to carry it beyond our limits, severe forfeitures.”

The 1835 letter says that in February of 1823 the island was buttressed by naval surveyors and vessels and by the end of that year it was “a regularly constituted Naval Depot & station under the command of Commodore Porter”.6 Key West got a Collector and Inspector of Customs who arrived in April 1823 and “since that time Key West has been a regular port of entry.”7 And it says this of the admiralty court:

We have been hearing at least since The Bay of Pigs invasion that Cuba was only 90 miles South of Key West. Nassau was 280 miles from Key West, and as Simonton told Congress in 1826, by comparison Key West was 400 miles from Pensacola (where the Western District’s court was), and 500 miles from St. Augustine (where the Eastern District’s court was).

“The Superior Court for this portion of the Territory, being much needed on account of its civil jurisdiction, but imperiously called for by the fact that all of the admiralty business, involving a vast amount of property, devolved for want of it upon minor tribunals, was established by Act of

But when the United States was organized in 1789 -- when the Federal Courts were organized anyhow -- a system

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Key West, from preceding page was miraculously saved by salvors, made into rafts, and ultimately put on ships and carried into Key West, then in the Territory of Florida.

Congress in winter of 1827.”8

Actually they already had an admiralty court in Key West by 1823, but the problem was that the legal status of that 1823 territorial court was doubtful and was not clear until later, when Chief Justice John Marshall for the U.S. Supreme Court told them in 1828 that the territorial court was constitutional, in The American Insurance Company v. Canter, 26 U.S. (1 Peters) 511 (1828).9 There was a lot of needless confusion about the issue in the five years between 1823 and 1828, before Canter.

The salvors went into the territorial court at Key West. The Court, operating through a notary and five jurors, awarded 76 percent of the value of the cotton as a salvage award and sold 356 bales of the cotton to David Canter, and some of the rest (at least 140 bales) perhaps to Canter or to others, to satisfy the salvage award. After the sale of the cotton in Key West to pay the Court’s salvage award, 140 bales of it made it to New York, where it was libeled15 by the underwriters on the theory that it was their property. We aren’t yet sure what ever happened to that cotton in court.

The 1823 Congressional Act,10 which set up the Superior Courts in the territory, provided in Section 7 as explained by Chief Justice Marshall in 1828 in Canter: “The 7th section enacts “That the judicial power shall be vested in two Superior Courts, and in such inferior Courts, and justices of the peace, as the legislative council of the territory may from time to time establish.”After prescribing the place of session, and the jurisdictional limits of each Court, the Act proceeds to say; “within its limits herein described, each Court shall have jurisdiction in all criminal cases, and exclusive jurisdiction in all capital offences; and original jurisdiction in all civil cases of the value of one hundred dollars, arising under and cognizable by the laws of the territory, now in force therein, or which may, at any time, be enacted by the legislative council thereof.”

Another part of the cotton, some 356 bales of it, arrived in the Port of Charleston, and on the 18th of April in 1825 -exactly 50 years after the Battle of Lexington one remembers from the poem16 -- a libel in admiralty was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. David Canter claimed the cotton as bona fide purchaser from the sale at public auction by order of the Florida court, the notary and the jurors. The district judge in South Carolina held that the court order from the Florida court was a nullity, apparently on the theory that a salvage claim is an admiralty claim, and that only an Article III court could handle an admiralty salvage claim, and that the Florida court was not an Article III court.

The 8th section enacts “That each of the said Superior Courts shall moreover have and exercise the same jurisdiction within its limits, in all cases arising under the laws and Constitution of the United States which, by an Act to establish the Judicial Courts of the United States, approved the 24th of September 178911, and an Act in addition to the Act, entitled an Act to establish the judicial Courts of the United States, approved the 2d of March 1793, was vested in the Court of Kentucky district.12

Although the circuit court for the District of South Carolina reversed the district court, as over history appellate courts have been wont to do, before the Supreme Court straightened out the mess in 1828 in Canter, there was giant confusion around the Keys from 1825 to 1828 about whether the court in Key West could or could not make a salvage award.

Got it? Sure. That seems clear enough, but you can already tell that the admiralty court in Key West arose out of legal confusion, which naturally enough arose out of a confusing admiralty case, Canter.

In the old days, a salvor if necessary could go with his salved cargo or vessel to a salvage court in Nassau or to Havana, and a foreigner could still do that unless he got caught by a U.S. Government revenue cutter. But because a federal statute made it a crime for him to take it anywhere but a U.S. port of entry, the salvor who was a U.S. citizen was in a real quandary.

On Feb. 17 of 1825 the sailing ship POINT à PETRE13 left New Orleans on a voyage to the French port then called “Havre de Grace,” or “Harbor of Grace,” now simply called “Le Havre.” She wrecked on Carysfort Reef14 near what is now Key Largo in the top of the Keys, about eight miles from shore, and was abandoned by her captain and crew in a sad state: filled with water, bilged, abandoned and lying on her side. She carried 891 bales of cotton, of which 333 bales were insured by the American Insurance Company, and 351 by the Ocean Insurance Company. Nobody seemed to know who owned the rest. The cargo of cotton was abandoned to the underwriters on March 10, 1825, and accepted by them. Apparently all of it

So with the federal court in South Carolina having declared the Key West court unconstitutional, until the mess could be straightened out, Simonton thought his only recourse was to get Congress to establish some kind of valid and legitimate admiralty court in Key West. Simonton had printed a petition “To the Members of both Houses of Congress”, and on May 2d, 1826, signed the copy, which is in the Library of Congress,17 from where I got it. On Feb. 6, 1827, according to the Journal of the United

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Key West, from preceding page States Senate, “Mr. Eaton presented the memorial of sundry inhabitants of Key West, and other persons engaged in wrecking and fishing on the coast of Florida, praying that a judicial tribunal, with maritime jurisdiction, may be established at Key West”, and it was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

of talents in the States where they resided. They have discovered, forsooth, that the island is sickly, that designing men live there, and that the commercial interest of the country materially demands a change of places for the sale of wrecked property – and that place is ST. AUGUSTINE. – Now, is it not obvious to every one who will reflect for a moment, that interested and selfish considerations alone, must influence the writers of those letters? Bring, if it were possible, the wrecked property to that place, and of course the lawyers, by their libels and suits, must and will be benefitted: and hence is found the cause of their deep solicitude – their great exertions for the public good.”

Who could possibly be against such a statute? Of course we know who was against it; it was those out-of-state lawyers who moved to South Florida because they couldn’t do so well where they lived, and they thought it would be very nice down there in South Florida and so they moved there, but once they arrived, they figured out that South Florida was humid and had a lot of mosquitoes, and a bunch of crooks, and so all they did was bitch and move to a fancier place [know the type?]. Simonton told Congress in his petition:

Simonton might have lived and worked 180 years ago, but he speaks for the spirit and with the voice of Mobile businessmen even today. Lawyer fees are the root of all evil, “radix malorem cupiditas est” as they say down home.

“One objection to the establishment of a court, is found in letters insidiously pressed upon Members of Congress from St. Augustine. Who, let me ask, are the persons who urge these objections? Have the people met and presented any memorial? Have the merchants there, who understand the nature and force of business, come forward [?]. Not at all. It proceeds altogether from one, two or three emigrant lawyers, who have gone to Florida in quest of better prospects than they could find in a fair competition

In the meantime, though, the Court proceedings in Canter continued on to the Supreme Court, which, through Chief Justice Marshall, affirmed the circuit court in 1828, upholding the constitutionality of the 1823 territorial court system in South Florida. Chief Justice Marshall wrote that “although admiralty jurisdiction can be exercised in the states in those Courts, only,18 which are established in pursuance of the 3d article of the Constitution; the same limitation does not

Sidney M. Aronovitz U.S. Courthouse, 301 Simonton St., completed in 1933/ Provided by www.keywesttravelguide.com

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Key West, from preceding page extend to the territories. In legislating for them, Congress exercises the combined powers of the general, and of a state government.” And so the salvage sale by the territorial court was valid, and Canter was entitled to claim the cotton he bought, and the Circuit Court was right to order the cotton to be given to him rather than to the insurance company.

District in the Territory of Florida”23. The statute drew a line from Indian River to Charlotte Harbor, and from there southward, set up a territorial court with a judge to reside in Key West. Of interest to Simonton’s people, it provided that the judge would decide the salvage issues. And most unusually and of most importance, Section 6 of the Act really cracked down Street marker for Simonton Street in on the wreckers, Key West, named for John W. Simonton/ providing for a Provided by Steve Larimore system of registration of wreckers, and forbidding contract salvage:

Interestingly, no court at any level seems to have been bothered by the fact that the salvage award was by a “notary and five jurors.” Nobody seems to have cared what they were, or how they operated. To our modern brains that sounds like the weirdest part of this territorial court, and maybe the most nearly unconstitutional as well. But Chief Justice Marshall did not even blink about that part. For one thing, under both the ancestors of Florida law – English and Spanish law – a “Notary” was a much more exalted official than it has come to be here and now. For another thing, maybe the “notary and five jurors” wasn’t so shocking to Chief Justice Marshall as it might be to us, because under English law even well after jury trials were clearly available at law, the admiralty courts continued to use “nautical assessors” and the elders of Trinity House as special masters or advisers or quasi-jurors,19 and this practice was not only recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as used in English admiralty cases,20 but in at least one Civil War admiralty prize case that went to the Supreme Court it was even used here in the United States.21 By the 1950s, in an admiralty case Justice Frankfurter was openly envious of the English Court’s use of nautical assessors or the Elders of Trinity House, or maybe he was just lonely at the highest Court and longed for the convivial dinners among judges and nautical assessors that Lord Mansfield had enjoyed.22 So no wonder Chief Justice Marshall in Canter wasn’t offended by the notary and five jurors.

“Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That no vessel shall be employed as a wrecker, unless under the authority of the judge of said court; and that it shall not be lawful to employ on board such vessel, any wrecker who shall have made conditions with the captain or supercargo of any wrecked vessel, before or at the time of affording relief.”

So, between the Supreme Court’s ruling in Canter and the 1828 Congressional Act, that pretty well took care of the problem, right?

The exact timing of all this is vague, since Supreme Court reports from 1828 don’t show the exact date of a decision, but on May 23, 1828 – about the same time that the Supreme Court’s decision in Canter cleared up the problem – Congress did too, by passing “An Act to Establish a Southern Judicial

Wrong. The salvage problems just moved north from Key West to Indian Key. You forgot about Jacob Houseman and Indian Key, which today we would describe as being on the ocean side of U.S. 1 at mile marker 78.5. You’ll have to ask some bona fide Florida historian about all this (or either look it up

SHARE YOUR NEWS! Submit items for publication in the 11th Circuit Historical News to Wanda Lamar, executive director of the Society. [E-mail: wanda_lamar @ca11.uscourts.gov.] Historical articles on the federal courts and judges within the Eleventh Circuit will be considered, as well as investitures, courthouse dedications, portrait presentations, memorial ceremonies and oral history programs.

21

Key West, from preceding page on “Wikipedia”® like I did), but apparently Jacob Houseman was a wrecker out of Key West who got into some row with his fellow wreckers, moved north to Indian Key, and in 1836 persuaded the territorial government to calve off Dade County from Monroe County.

6 Patrick at 64; Commodore Porter was the main force in ridding the world of “The Pirates of the Caribbean”, id at 73 n.9, whom we know better through Disney World and/or Johnny Depp. 7 Patrick at 64. The United States Senate Journal of February 20, 1822 at page 141 reports that “Mr. Johnson, of Louisiana, presented the memorial of John W. Simonton, and his associates, who have formed a settlement on the island of Key West, in East Florida, praying that the same may be made a port of entry; the petition was read; and, on his motion, Ordered, that it be referred to the Committee on Finance, to consider and report thereon.”

Beyond that, we are informed by the 1841 Supreme Court opinion in Houseman v. The Schooner NORTH CAROLINA, 40 U.S. 40 (1841), written by Justice Roger B. Taney, renowned as author of the reviled Dred Scott decision and, to boot, the son-in-law of Francis Scott Key, author of “the Star Spangled Banner” (you couldn’t make this stuff up). Whatever fault might devolve upon Taney for the Dred Scott case, he somewhat made up for by wading in and cleaning up the fraud and mess that Jacob Houseman was conducting at Indian Key in his salvage business. But then, Indian Key is the next chapter, not this one.

8 Patrick at 64. 9 There was a later Supreme Court decision in Canter in Canter v. The American and Ocean Insurance Companies, 28 U.S. 307 (1830), written by Justice Joseph Story, but it is irrelevant to our purpose here. 10 Act of March 3, 1823, amending an earlier 1822 Act. The American Insurance Company v. Canter, 26 U.S.(1 Peters) 511, 543 (1828). 11 This is the Judiciary Act of 1789 setting up the Federal Courts. 12 26 U.S.(1 Peters) at 543. 13 There is a port by that name in Guadeloupe, French West Indies. There is also a “Point Petre” in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada, and there is uncertainty about the derivation of its name, whether–for example–meaning “Rocky Point” or “St. Peter’s Point” or several other possibilities. http://www. aandc.org/research/point_petre.html

For the full text of the Petition to Congress, contact David Bagwell at [email protected].

14 The present lighthouse at Carysfort Reef, the oldest functioning lighthouse in the United States, was built in 1852, twenty-seven years too late to help the POINT à PETRE. But sometime in 1825 the lightship CAESAR was built in New York and, sailing to station at Carysfort Reef, she sank near Key Biscayne. Like the cotton cargo of the POINT à PETRE, the CAESAR was taken by wreckers to Key West. The POINT à PETRE was either the cause of the placement of the CAESAR or, if not, must have narrowly missed her at Carysfort Reef.

David Bagwell is a member of the Board of the Eleventh Circuit Historical Society and was the first chairman of the Eleventh Circuit Lawyers’ Advisory Committee. He practices solo around Mobile Bay, and this year is president of his county’s bar association. His being a jackleg local historian is only one among several of his problems, which he considers minor. Bagwell may be contacted by electrons sent to david@ bagwellesq.com.

15 Oh, you know; this is not defamation. Until what they call the “unification” in 1966 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Admiralty Rules, what we now call a “complaint” was in admiralty called a “libel.” 16 “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere”, by Henry Wadsorth Longfellow, of course, written in 1860. Longfellow was born in 1807.

Endnotes: 1 E.g., Jerry Wilkinson, “History of Key West”, http://www.keyshistory.org/ keywest.html; “Sally’s Key West”, http://so-real.com/history/index/html. 2 Careful now, about this “West Florida” business; this “West Florida” is not the same as the larger “West Florida,” which came into the United States by President Monroe’s 1810 proclamation. The Supreme Court used to call that West Florida simply “between the Iberville and the Perdido”, e.g., Hallett vs Collins, 51 U.S. (10 How.) 174, 180 (1850), although both the Perdido and the Iberville part were a little vague. For understandable reasons, the U.S. Supreme Court has left it a little vague exactly when the Perdido became the boundary between France and Spain, Foster vs Neilson, 27 U.S.(2 Peters) 253, 300 (1829)(Marshall, C.J.), and on the westward boundary of “West Florida,” “the Iberville” as they called it in the early 1800s, was even more mysterious. You’ll have a hard time finding “the Iberville” on any map. The Western boundary of British [French and Indian War to Revolutionary War] and Spanish [Revolutionary War to 1810] “West Florida” was actually this: Bayou Manchac runs East off the Mississippi and where the Amite River runs North-and-South into Bayou Manchac, the Iberville runs a short distance east-and-west to Lake Maurepas, and from there you go East to Lake Pontchartrain, and the boundary goes from Pontchartrain eastward to Lake Borgne and the Mississippi Sound. Sieur d’Iberville himself entered Bayou Manchac off the Mississippi in canoes on March 24, 1699, a lovely time of year, and in his journal called it “one of the prettiest spots I have seen, fine level ground, beautiful woods, clear and bare of canes . . .” This Bayou Manchac waterway was first called the “River d’Iberville” in a map published in 1702 in France by Guillaume de L’Isle, but you don’t see the name much nowadays. 3 “William Adee Whitehead’s Description of Key West”, in Rember W. Patrick, TEQUESTA at 61 and 72 n. 4 [hereafter “Patrick” for convenience]. 4 A good bit of the legal history of ports of entry is discussed in Justice White’s opinion in Keck v United States, 172 U.S. 434 (1899). 5 U.S. Senate Journal, February 20, 1822, page 151 [American State Papers].

22

17 Library of Congress Control No. mm7900310; LCCN Permalink: http:// lccn.loc.gov/mm79003310, in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division in Washington D.C. The Library purchased it from a private source in 1937. 18 But don’t forget that under “The Saving Clause,” from the original Judiciary Act of 1789 to the present, state courts may entertain such admiralty claims which are not the peculiar province of admiralty. “The Saving Clause” is now codified as 28 U.S.C. §1333(1), and now reads “saving to suitors in all cases all other remedies to which they are otherwise entitled.” This is too deep to talk about in a short history paper. 19 Carter v. Baltimore & Ohio RR, 166 F.Supp. 307, 310 (D.Md. 1958)(“even after the law courts absorbed the admiralty jurisdiction the presiding judge was usually assisted by two experienced nautical men called assessors and selected from among the ‘Elder Brethren of Trinity House’”). 20 E.g., The Umbria, 166 U.S. 404, 414 (1897); The Oregon, 158 U.S. 186, 194 (1895)(both opinions by Justice Henry Billings Brown, who is generally recognized as having been one of the best admiralty judges ever to have sat on the Supreme Court). 21 The Cornelius, 70 U.S. 214, 218 (1865). 22 Calmar SS Corp. vs Scott, 345 U.S. 427, 432 (1953)(“One envies not merely the perceptiveness of Lord Mansfield in matters of commercial law but his genial means of informing himself. We cannot resort to the elastic procedure by which Mansfield sought enlightenment at dinners with ‘knowing and considerable merchants,’ nor have we any Elder Brethren of Trinity House to help us”). Frankfurter quoted an English work, The Lives of the Chief Justices, which said “Lord Mansfield converted an occasional into a regular institution, and trained a corps of jurors as a permanent liaison between law and commerce. He won their confidence by social, as by professional, condescension, ‘not only conversing freely with them in court, but inviting them to dine with him’”, id at 432 note 3. 23 Twentieth Congress, Session I, Chapter 77, page 291 [American State Papers].

Tuttle biography shows how much one life can make a difference Title: “Elbert Parr Tuttle: Chief Jurist of the Civil Rights Revolution” Author: Anne Emanuel Publisher: The University of Georgia Press; www.ugapress.org Cost: $34.95, 424 pages “Elbert Parr Tuttle: Chief Jurist of the Civil Rights Revolution” is the first — and the only authorized — biography of Elbert Parr Tuttle, the judge who led the federal court with jurisdiction over most of the Deep South through the most tumultuous years of the civil rights revolution.

Her book has received positive reviews. NPR’s Nina Totenberg wrote: “For those interested in America’s racial history and transformation, this book is a must — a tour de force, covering not just Tuttle but the often violent times he lived in.” That opinion is seconded by Mark Tushnet, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Harvard Law School: “Anne Emanuel admirably describes the career — in war, politics, and law — of a judge who was at the center of enforcing civil rights law in the 1960s. Full of interesting detail, ‘Elbert Parr Tuttle’ tells us much about how one person’s life can shape the law.”

Georgia State University law professor Anne Emanuel vividly writes that by the time Tuttle became chief judge of the U.S. Georgia State Uni- Court of Appeals for the Fifth versity Law Professor Anne Emanuel/ Photo Circuit, he had already led an credit Jerome Walker exceptional life. Born in 1897, he had cofounded a prestigious law firm, earned a Purple Heart in the battle for Okinawa in World War II and led Republican Party efforts in the early 1950s to establish a viable presence in the South. But it was the inter­section of Tuttle’s judicial career with the civil rights movement that thrust him onto history’s stage.

continued, next page

When Tuttle assumed the mantle of chief judge in 1960, six years had passed since Brown v. Board of Education had been decided but little had changed for black southerners. In landmark cases relating to voter registration, school desegregation, access to public transportation and other basic civil liberties, Tuttle’s determination to render justice and his swift, decisive rulings neutralized the delaying tactics of diehard segregationists — including voter registrars, school board members, and governors — who were determined to preserve Jim Crow laws throughout the South. Emanuel maintains that without the support of the federal courts of the Fifth Circuit, the promise of Brown might have gone unrealized. Moreover, without the leadership of Elbert Tuttle and the moral authority he commanded, the courts of the Fifth Circuit might not have met the challenge. Emanuel clerked for Judge Tuttle during his tenure on the Fifth Circuit. In addition, she practiced in a private law firm and clerked for Chief Justice Harold Hill of the Georgia Supreme Court.

23

Tuttle biography, from preceding page

Anne Emanuel discusses her new book at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum Theater on Nov. 2

Judge Horace T. Ward attended the book-signing event as a special guest

Judge Phyllis A. Kravitch was also a special guest at the Carter Center booksigning

Photos courtesy of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP; photo credit: Steve Swieter, Swieter Image, with special thanks to Kembra Smith, 11th Circuit Court of Appeals

24

11th Circuit Birthday Celebrations In honor of the Eleventh Circuit’s 30th anniversary, judges, staff and members of the Bar celebrated the creation of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals at receptions held in Montgomery, Ala., and Atlanta on Oct. 3.

Atlanta reception Photos courtesy of Debbie Walker, 11th Circuit, Atlanta

A gift from the Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit to the Eleventh Circuit Historical Society, May 2005. This display is a tribute to the judges of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals before the split in 1981. It was created in 2004 when the Eleventh Circuit judges joined with the Fifth Circuit judges in the first jointly sponsored Federal Practice Seminar in New Orleans.

25

Montgomery reception M ontgom er y photos courtesy of Blanche Baker, 11th Circuit, Montgomery

26

The Eleventh Circuit Historical Society

The Eleventh Circuit Historical Society P.O. Box 1556  •  Atlanta, Georgia 30301 (404) 335-6395

The Eleventh Circuit Historical Society is a private, nonprofit organization incorporated in Georgia on Jan. 17, 1983. Although the Society has no legal connection with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit or the federal government, its primary purpose is to keep a history of the courts of the Eleventh Circuit as institutions and of the judges who have served these courts. In this regard, the judges in the old Fifth Circuit from the states of Alabama, Florida and Georgia are included in the Society’s area of interest.

I hereby apply for membership in the class checked below and enclose my check for $___________ payable to the Eleventh Circuit Historical Society.

In addition, the Society has a broader mission to foster public appreciation of the federal court system in the states encompassed by the Eleventh Circuit. The formation of the Society came shortly after the creation of the Circuit in 1981. This timing has allowed the writing of history as current history, not as research history. The Society is devoted to preserving our courts’ heritage through the collection of portraits, photographs, oral histories, documents, news articles, books, artifacts and personal memorabilia. The Society’s permanent office is in the Elbert Parr Tuttle U.S. Court of Appeals Building in Atlanta. Its Board of Trustees is composed of lawyers and legal scholars representing the historical interests of Alabama, Florida and Georgia.

Annual Membership _______ Student _______ Individual _______ Associate _______ Contributing _______ Sustaining (individual) _______ Keystone (law firm)* _______ Patron

$  5.00 50.00 100.00 250.00 500.00 500.00 1,000.00

Name ________________________________________ Address ______________________________________ Telephone ____________________________________ E-mail ________________________________________ *KEYSTONE FIRMS: Please name five (5) members of your firm to be Society members. (1) ___________________________________________ (2) ___________________________________________ (3) ___________________________________________ (4) ___________________________________________ (5) ___________________________________________

While the Society’s archival activities are partially funded by grants and other special gifts, it primarily depends on members for financial support. Take pride in knowing that through your membership, you are helping to recapture memories of past events and thus supplementing historical knowledge that will enlighten and enrich present and future generations. In essence, the Society’s accomplishments belong to you. The Officers and Trustees of the Eleventh Circuit Historical Society cordially invite you to join in this rewarding challenge. You will be informed of future programs and activities.

The Historical News is published periodically by the Historical Society of the United States Courts in the Eleventh Circuit. To obtain a copy or information about the Society, please contact: Wanda W. Lamar, Executive Director The Eleventh Circuit Historical Society P.O. Box 1556, Atlanta, GA 30301 (404) 335-6395  •  [email protected] BOARD OF OFFICERS Chief Judge Joel F. Dubina - Honorary Chairman Ben H. Harris, Jr. - President James L. North - Vice President-Alabama Leonard H. Gilbert - Vice President-Florida George L. Murphy, Jr. - Vice President-Georgia Halsey G. Knapp, Jr. - Secretary John M. Tatum - Treasurer This newsletter produced courtesy of The Florida Bar.

27

The Florida Bar 651 East Jefferson Street Tallahassee, FL 32399-2300

FIRST CLASS U.S. POSTAGE PAID TALLAHASSEE, FL Permit No. 43

The Eleventh Circuit Historical Society, Inc. (2011 – 2013)

OFFICERS Chief Judge Joel F. Dubina, honorary chairman Ben H. Harris Jr., president James L. North, vice president, Alabama Leonard H. Gilbert, vice president, Florida George L. Murphy Jr., vice president, Georgia Halsey G. Knapp Jr., secretary John M. Tatum, treasurer TRUSTEES Alabama David A. Bagwell Julian D. Butler N. Lee Cooper Harry W. Gamble Jr. Richard H. Gill Reginald T. Hamner Scott A. Powell Jere C. Segrest Finis E. St. John IV

Florida Timothy J. Armstrong Joel D. Eaton Suzanne E. Gilbert John F. Harkness Jr. John W. Kozyak Roberto Martinez James C. Rinaman Jr. E. Lanny Russell Sidney A. Stubbs Jr.

28

Georgia J. Ralph Beaird Robert M. Brinson A. Stephens Clay John J. Dalton Wallace E. Harrell Dan F. Laney William H. Larsen Kirk M. McAlpin Jr. Chilton D. Varner

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