Professor H.T. Smith is quoted by Law360 and The Miami Herald on the passing of former Florida Supreme Court Justice Joseph W. Hatchett, the first Black member of the state’s highest court. He was 88.
“The legacy of Justice Hatchett,” Professor Smith is quoted, “was that he himself, and through his mentoring of Black lawyers, opened the vaults of opportunity in every field of legal endeavor – public practice and private, federal and state – so that almost all Black lawyers are in some important way of his lineage.”
“Like Jackie Robinson,” Professor Smith continued, “Justice Hatchett was not just first person, but just that special type of person to break seemingly impenetrable barriers. He was professionally excellent, and personally humble. And that made it that much easier for all who followed.”
Justice Hatchett also made history as the first Black judge appointed to a federal circuit appeals court in the Deep South, and the first Black person in the 20th century to win a statewide contested election in Florida.
Read both pieces celebrating Justice Hatchett here and here.
Professor Smith is the founding director of the FIU Law Trial Advocacy Program and himself a trailblazing civil rights pioneer and trial lawyer. He teaches Trial Advocacy and Advanced Trial Advocacy.
Reach Professor Smith at 305-348-8095 and htsmith@fiu.edu. To learn more the Trial Advocacy Program at FIU Law, visit law.fiu.edu/trialad.