The Supreme Court of Florida : a journey toward justice, 1972-1987

This third volume in the history of the Florida Supreme Court describes the court during its most tumultuous years. Amid the upheaval of the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and Watergate, the story begins with reform in the entire Florida court system. It includes the court's first black justice, Joseph Hatchett; Governor Reubin Askew's new system for merit selection of justices; and revision of Article V, the section of the state constitution dealing with the judiciary. Neil Skene moves on to cover landmark court decisions; the introduction of cameras in court; changes to media law, personal injury law, and family and divorce law; privacy rights; gay rights; death penalty cases; and the appointment of the first woman justice, Rosemary Barkett. This book is an absorbing portrayal of a judicial institution adapting to a time of deep political and social change.

Chronology of cases and important events -- The reformation -- Four horsemen of the reformation -- 1974: Overton and England -- 1975: Sundberg and Hatchett -- Article V: Architects of change -- The third branch -- The spirit of 1976: reformers take control -- Unexpected replacements: Alderman and McDonald -- Playing chicken with courtroom cameras -- Access to legal services: who will serve the poor? -- "Save the Supreme Court" -- The life of the law -- Personal injury: a collision of interests -- Media law: satyrs, beer trucks, and teachers -- Personal injury: a wrong finds a remedy -- Divorce and family litigation: till the judge do us part -- Environment and growth: property rights and the public good -- Death penalty: the long last mile -- The machinery of death -- The "E" seat: Ervin to England to Ehrlich -- Accepting gays -- Reapportionment: where to draw the lines -- Search and seizure: reshaping constitutional protections -- Private lives and public values in criminal law -- Shaw: from descendant of a slave to Chief Justice -- Death penalty: deciding who dies -- Sovereign immunity: suing city hall -- Constitutional amendments: tinkering with democracy -- Open government and privacy: the Forsberg saga -- Chief Justice Boyd: the passover ends -- Criminal law: to establish justice -- "Rosemary the first" -- Virgil Hawkins: crossing the bar.