Fifty Years of Justice: A History of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

517 Pages·2.998 MB·English

by  James M. Denham

Fifty Years of Justice
University Press of Florida
Florida A&M University, Tallahassee
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton
Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers
Florida International University, Miami
Florida State University, Tallahassee
New College of Florida, Sarasota
University of Central Florida, Orlando
University of Florida, Gainesville
University of North Florida, Jacksonville
University of South Florida, Tampa
University of West Florida, Pensacola

Fifty Years
of Justice
A History of the U.S. District Court for
the Middle District of Florida
James M. Denham
University Press of Florida
Gainesville · Tallahassee · Tampa · Boca Raton
Pensacola · Orlando · Miami · Jacksonville · Ft. Myers · Sarasota
Copyright 2015 by The Historical Society of United States District Court for the Middle
District of Florida, Inc.
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
This book may be available in an electronic edition.
20 19 18 17 16 15 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Denham, James M., author.
Fifty years of justice : a history of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District
of Florida / James M. Denham.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8130-6049-1
1. United States. District Court (Florida : Middle District)—History. 2. Justice,
Administration of—Florida—History. 3. District courts—Florida—History. I. Title.
KF8755.F56D46 2015
347.73'22097592—dc23
2014043924
University Press of Florida
15 Northwest 15th Street
Gainesville, FL 32611-2079
http://www.upf.com
Contents
Acknowledgments / vii
Introduction / 1
1. From the Southern to the U.S. Middle District of Florida,
1950s–1962 / 7
2. The U.S. Middle District of Florida, First Years, 1962–1968 / 27
3. The Middle District and Civil Rights, 1962–1968 / 49
4. Adjudicating Equality Continues: The Middle District and School
Desegregation, 1968–1976 / 74
5. The Middle District and the War on Crime, 1968–1976 / 97
6. Growing Pains, Constitutional Questions, and Bankruptcy,
1976–1980 / 120
7. A New Era Begins: The Reagan Years, 1980–1988 / 142
8. Drugs, Drugs, and More Drugs, 1980–1988 / 160
9. Mad Dogs, Spies, and International Weapons Dealers / 181
10. Income Tax Evasion, the Death Penalty, the Environment, the
AIDS Epidemic, Desegregation, and Voting and Employment
Discrimination, 1980–1988 / 204
11. New Judges, New Challenges, 1988–1992 / 223
12. The Court Expands and Confronts Antigovernment Activity,
1992–2000 / 239
13. Bankruptcy in the Middle District, 1984–2000 / 256
14. First Amendment, Abortion Rights, Employment Discrimination, and
School Desegregation Litigation Runs Its Course, 1992–2000 / 271
15. Drugs, Outlaws, Fraud, Pollution, Endangered Species, and a Baby
Named Sabrina / 290
16. “It’s a Tidal Wave . . . and I’m Not Kidding about It!” / 311
17. Into the New Century, 2000–2004 / 326
18. Contesting Sentencing Guidelines, the Patriot Act, Terrorism, and
Cases Involving International Questions / 341
19. Constitutional Questions of the Twenty-First-Century Court / 357
20. Income Tax Evasion, Medicare Fraud, Organized Crime,
Environmental Disputes, and Bankruptcy / 372
21. Closing Arguments and Taking Stock: Fifty Years of Justice / 387
Appendix: Judicial Officers, Middle District of Florida
U.S. District Judges / 398
U.S. Magistrate Judges / 404
U.S. Bankruptcy Judges / 408
U.S. Attorneys / 410
U.S. Marshals / 412
Abbreviations / 413
Notes / 415
Bibliography / 477
Index / 487
Acknowledgments
I want to thank many people who assisted me in the writing of this book.
First, I want to thank judges George C. Young and William Terrell Hodges
for their support of this project and for sharing their time and memories
with me. I also want to thank the History, Education, and Public Outreach
Sub-Committee of the Middle District of Florida Historical Committee,
whose membership is composed of judges and practicing attorneys. The
publication of a history of the district is only one of the many initiatives
that the committee has undertaken since its inception. The committee or-
ganized the Historical Society of the United States District Court for the
Middle District of Florida, which has the mission to enhance historical
awareness, to engage in community outreach, and to facilitate a greater
understanding of the courts and the constitutional and judicial processes
within which the federal courts operate. The society is currently engaged in
teacher education programs, community outreach, and the construction of
historical exhibits in Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Fort Myers, and Ocala
courthouses.
I want to thank U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Karen S. Jennemann and U.S.
District Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger, cochairs of the History, Education and
Public Outreach Sub-Committee when this project was first undertaken,
as well as their successors, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Catherine Peek McEwen
and U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony Porcelli. I also want to thank Chief
Judge Anne Conway and the many other judges, attorneys, and staff who
served on the history committee: U.S. District Judges Susan C. Bucklew,
John Antoon, Howell Melton, Virginia M. Hernandez Covington, Marcia
Morales Howard, William J. Castagna, William Terrell Hodges; and U.S.
Magistrate Judges Elizabeth Jenkins and Douglas Frazier. Working closely
with me and with the history committee were skilled federal practitioners,
Michael V. Elsberry and Richard S. Dellinger, who frequently advised me
on any number of issues.
viii · Acknowledgments
I want to thank the dedicated and kind staff who assisted me in my
research at courthouses in Orlando, Jacksonville, and Tampa. In Orlando,
Judge Karen Jennemann and her secretary, Cindy Courtney, were always
eager to assist me, cheerfully answering questions, kindly providing me
work space, and opening doors that by necessity are closely guarded. Sheryl
L. Loesch, clerk of the U.S. Middle District of Florida, and her staff were ex-
tremely helpful. Her staff assisted my research visits to courthouses. In Or-
lando, Elizabeth Warren was always available to assist me in various ways.
In Tampa, Alycia H. Marshall arranged my interviews with U.S. District
Judges James S. Moody Jr., Steven Douglas Merryday, William J. Castagna,
Susan C. Bucklew, and Elizabeth Kovachevich, and with U.S. Magistrate
Judges Elizabeth Jenkins, Thomas Wilson, and Mark Pizzo. During an ac-
tive week in Jacksonville in summer 2010, U.S. District Judge Harvey E.
Schlesinger cordially hosted me. Sandy Wallen in the clerk’s office set up
interviews with Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judges Gerald Bard Tjo-
flat and Susan Black, U.S. District Judges Howell W. Melton and Henry Lee
Adams, U.S. Magistrate Judge James Klindt, and Bankruptcy Judge Jerry
Funk.
I also want to thank other judges and lawyers who offered important
information and insights on any number of subjects relevant to this book:
Judges E. J. Salcines, Susan Roberts, and Mary Catherine Green; lawyers
Dan Warren, Don M. Stichter, Arnold D. Levine, Richard A. Hirsch, Robert
H. Mackenzie, Walter Manley, Kent Lilly, Steven Senn, William Ellsworth,
Don Wilson, Terrance Smiljanich, Robert J. Trogolo, Dorothy Trogolo,
Howardine Garrett, Austin Maslanik, David Henderson, Robert Norgard,
Andrea Norgard, Peter Mayer, Charles Mayer, Charles Carlton, Geraldyne
Carlton, Michael Wood, Richard Nail, Dale Jacobs, Robert Puterbaugh,
Mac Midyette, Sam Crosby, John DeVault, Buddy Schulz, Leonard Gilbert,
William J. Sheppard, J. Tom Smoot, Kristina Szurkus, Andy Combs, and Joe
Tessitore.
I want to thank professional archivists at numerous research facili-
ties that assisted me, including Jim McSweeney, Robert G. Richards, and
Guy Hall at the National Archives Records Center in Morrow, Georgia. I
also want to thank Bruce Ragsdale and his staff at the history section of
the Federal Judicial Center in Washington D.C., especially Jake Kobrick,
Matt Sarago, and Deena Smith. Also I want to thank Jim Cusick, Carl Van
Ness, and Florence Turcotte at the P. K. Yonge Library of Florida History at
the University of Florida. Thanks also go to Paul Ortiz and his staff at the
Samuel Proctor Oral History Center for making numerous oral histories
Acknowledgments · ix
available to me before they were completely processed. I also want to thank
Middle District archivist Katie Marra, who saved me many trips to Orlando
by cheerfully forwarding illustrations and other materials to me in the final
stages of this project.
Writing is a lonely, solitary affair, yet every writer owes a debt of grati-
tude to friends and colleagues who read and offer comment on drafts. I
want to thank the learned panel of lawyers who read and commented on
this work, thus assisting this nonlawyer greatly: Hon. James S. Moody Jr.,
Phillip Buhler, Richard Dellinger, Tom Elligett, Michael V. Elsberry, George
B. Howell III, Marilyn Moran, and Thomas Michael Woods. Martin Dyck-
man and Canter Brown also read the entire manuscript and offered many
helpful suggestions. They are in no way responsible for any of the mistakes
in this book.
Two of my main concerns when I undertook this project were whether
I would be granted access to judges and, more important, that I would be
writing about judges and other court personnel who were still alive. The
first concern was easily swept away within the first few months after I began
the work. The second concern, I must confess, is still with me. I can only
hope that the accounts and incidents that occur in these pages are not only
accurate but fair. That was my goal throughout. But, of course, that is for
others to judge.