Professor H.T. Smith spoke recently during a guided tour of Miami’s historic Black Police Precinct and Courthouse Museum.
Coordinated by the Kozyak Minority Mentoring Foundation, the precinct and courthouse tour was led by pioneering police officer Lieutenant Archie McKay, and featured Professor Smith on the museum’s historical story — from a legal perspective.
Lecturing to an overflow crowd of federal and state court judges, attorneys, and law students, Professor Smith focused on this one-of-a-kind-in-the-nation “colored court,” including the national controversy it stirred, the Black and Jewish judges who served on the court, and how the court was saved from the wrecking ball.
“This was a unique opportunity to educate stakeholders in our legal community about the history of separate and unequal justice in Miami,” Professor Smith said, “and to inspire them to become supporters of and ambassadors for this iconic museum.”
Professor Smith is the founding director of the FIU Law Trial Advocacy Program. He teaches Advanced Trial Advocacy and Trial Advocacy. Reach him at htsmith@fiu.edu.
Pictured, from left to right: Professor H.T. Smith, FIU Law Dean and Professor Tawai (Tay) Ansah, Lt. Archie McKay, and FIU Law students Tremaine Hemans (President, H.T. Smith Black Law Student Association) and Samour Suckram (Treasurer, Caribbean Student Bar Association).