Harry Lee Anstead
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| Sitting justices |
| R. Fred Lewis Charles Wells Harry Lee Anstead Barbara Pariente Peggy Quince Charles Canady Ricky Polston |
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Contents |
Harry Lee Anstead is an associate justice of the Florida Supreme Court, a position he has occupied since 1994.
Legal Education and Experience
Judge Anstead worked his way through both undergraduate and law school at the University of Florida and he later was the first sitting judge in the United States to earn an academic degree in the judicial process when he was awarded a Master of Laws degree at the University of Virginia. Between undergraduate and law school he served with the National Security Agency in Washington, D.C.
Justice Anstead was a trial and appellate lawyer in South Florida until 1977 when he became a judge of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, where he served as Chief Judge and from time to time as a circuit and county judge throughout the district. As an appellate judge, he was especially noted for his many dissenting and other opinions later approved or adopted by the Florida Supreme Court. During his tenure he was honored by being nominated for appointment to the Supreme Court by four successive statewide nominating commissions. On August 29, 1994, he was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by Governor Lawton Chiles.
Impact on the Court
While on the Court, Justice Anstead has initiated a number of changes to the Court's internal procedures, including the creation of a central staff of lawyers to facilitate the processing and disposition of cases, and the standardization of the work of the judicial staff lawyers. He also initiated a comprehensive statewide program to improve professionalism among judges, lawyers, and law schools in the state. His initiative included the creation of a Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism and a permanent Center for Professionalism at The Florida Bar. The American Bar Association has recognized this initiative as the most significant recent professionalism initiative in the nation, and Justice Anstead has been recognized by Florida lawyers as the father of the modern professionalism movement in Florida. He has also served on the Judges Advisory Committee to the ABA Committee on Ethics.
As Chief Justice
Justice Anstead advanced to the highest judicial office in state government on July 1, 2002, when he became Florida's 50th Chief Justicew. The major priority of his administration as Chief Justice was to maintain the excellence of Florida's trial courts during a time of transition and improving the lot of children whose lives are affected by the courts. Under a recent constitutional amendment, funding for the operation of Florida's trial courts was shifted from local budgets to the state budget and the Chief Justice successfully led a unified judicial effort to insure that all Florida communities were provided with adequate judicial resources.
