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Federal Court named for Judge Hatchett
After President Joe Biden signed a bill in 2022, the United States Courthouse and Federal Building in Tallahassee was renamed to honor civil rights pioneer and former Florida Supreme Court Justice Joseph W. Hatchett during a June 2023 ceremony.
A retired 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals chief judge and the first Black person since Reconstruction to serve on Florida’s highest court, Hatchett died April 30, 2021, at the age of 88.
While ongoing renovations at the Courthouse are delaying the appearance of his name on the building’s façade, there is a bronze bust of Judge Hatchett installed in the entranceway.
Judge Hatchett’s career was peppered with historymaking achievements and appointments.
He was admitted to The Florida Bar in November 1959. In 1966, he was appointed assistant United States attorney for the Middle District of Florida, then first assistant United States attorney in 1967. He was appointed a United States magistrate for the Middle District of Florida in 1971. With this role, Judge Hatchett became the first Black federal judicial officer in the South.
In 1975, Judge Hatchett was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by Gov. Reubin Askew — the first Black justice to serve on Florida’s highest court. In 1979, he was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, becoming the first Black person to serve in a federal court in the Deep South. Judge Hatchett served as a federal circuit court judge for 20 years, including a role as chief judge of the 11th Circuit from 1996-99.
The Florida Supreme Court Historical Society presented Judge Hatchett with a Lifetime Achievement Award “in recognition of his highly distinguished career as a lawyer, his many years of extraordinary contributions to Florida’s legal system as a highly respected member of the judiciary, and his lifelong devotion to the improvement of the lives of others.”
