Justice Joseph Arthur Boyd, Jr.
Former Justice Joe Boyd was the 59th Justice to serve on the Supreme Court. He served from 1969 to 1987.
He started his law training at Mercer University. In 1939, he moved to Florida, served in the Marines during World War II, and then graduated from the University of Miami School of Law in 1948. He practiced law for 20 years in Hialeah.
He served as president of the Hialeah-Miami Springs Chamber of Commerce in 1956, was elected to the Dade County Commission and served as its chairman in 1963, and was elected vice-mayor in 1967. Boyd was also an active member of many civic organizations throughout his life.
In 1968, Boyd decided to run for the Florida Supreme Court, won the Democratic primary and then the general election. He was elected to the supreme court at age 52.
Never having been a judge and finding himself out of his element in rural Tallahassee led to Boyd expressing discomfort in dealing with his new job. Justice Boyd became involved in a scandal involving personal communications with an attorney on one side of a case before the court.
Coupled with ethical lapses among several other justices serving at the same time, Boyd was reprimanded and considered for impeachment in the Florida Senate. He submitted to a psychiatric exam as part of his defense. In the end, he was exonerated and served another term on the court, though he was passed over for the office of chief justice until the final two years of his term.
He practiced law in Tallahassee with his son’s law firm in his retirement.
Justice Boyd served as Justice for 18 years from January 7, 1969 to January 6, 1987 as Justice and as Chief Justice from July 1, 1984 – June 30, 1986 as Chief Justice. He was born in Jackson County, Georgia, on November 16, 1916, and died on October 26, 2007, in Tallahassee, Florida.
Former Justices
- Justice Robert J. Luck
- Justice Barbara Lagoa
- Justice Alan Lawson
- Justice James E.C. Perry
- Justice Ricky Polston
- Justice Kenneth B. Bell
- Justice Raoul G. Cantero
- Justice Peggy A. Quince
- Justice R. Fred Lewis
- Justice Barbara J. Pariente
- Justice Harry Lee Anstead
- Justice Charles Talley Wells
- Justice Major B. Harding
- Justice Gerald Kogan
- Justice Stephen H. Grimes
- Justice Rosemary Barkett
- Justice Leander J. Shaw, Jr.
- Justice Raymond Ehrlich
- Justice Parker Lee McDonald
- Justice James E. Alderman
- Justice Frederick Brennan Karl
- Justice Joseph Woodrow Hatchett
- Justice Alan C. Sundberg
- Justice Arthur J. England, Jr.
- Justice Ben. F. Overton
- Justice Hal P. Dekle
- Justice David Lucius McCain
- Justice Joseph Arthur Boyd, Jr.
- Justice James Calhoun Adkins, Jr.
- Justice Vassar Benjamin Carlton
- Justice Wade Lee Hopping
- Justice Richard William Ervin
- Justice Millard Fillmore Caldwell
- Justice Stephen C. O'Connell
- Justice Benjamin Campbell Thornal
- Justice Edward Harris Drew
- Justice John Elie Mathews
- Justice Bonnie Kaslo Roberts
- Justice Tolbert Frank Hobson
- Justice Paul Dryden Barns
- Justice Harold Leon "Tom" Sebring
- Justice Alto Lee Adams
- Justice Elwyn Thomas
- Justice Roy Harrison Chapman
- Justice Fred Henry Davis
- Justice Rivers Henderson Buford
- Justice Louie Willard Strum
- Justice Armstead Brown
- Justice William Glenn Terrell
- Justice Thomas Franklin West
- Justice Jefferson Beale Browne
- Justice William Hull Ellis
- Justice Charles Breckenridge Parkhill
- Justice James Bryan Whitfield
- Justice William Adams Hocker
- Justice Evelyn Croom Maxwell
- Justice Robert Spratt Cockrell
- Justice Thomas M. Shackleford
- Justice Francis Beauregard Carter
- Justice Benjamin Sullivan Liddon
- Justice Milton Harvey Mabry
- Justice Robert Fenwick Taylor
- Justice Henry Laurens Mitchell
- Justice Geoge Pettus Raney
- Justice George Gray Mcwhorter
- Justice Robert Bruce Van Valkenburgh
- Justice Franklin D. Fraser
- Justice James Diament Westcott, Jr.
- Justice Ossian Bingley Hart
- Justice Edwin M. Randall
- Justice Samuel James Douglas
- Justice James Mcnair Baker
- Justice Augustus Emmet Maxwell
- Justice David Shelby Walker
- Justice William Augustus Forward
- Justice Bird Murphy Pearson
- Justice Charles H. Dupont
- Justice Benjamin D. Wright
- Justice Albert Gallatin Semmes
- Justice Leslie Atchinson Thompson
- Justice Walker Anderson
- Justice Joseph Bradford Lancaster
- Justice George W. Macrae
- Justice George Sydney Hawkins
- Justice Thomas Baltzell
- Justice Thomas Douglas
Contact Information
Florida Supreme Court
500 South Duval Street
Tallahassee, Florida
32399-1925 | EMAIL
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