DIVERSITY CORNER
Celebrating Our Legacy , the Historical Journey of Black Judges in Palm Beach County
LAWONDA R . WARREN
This year , for its Black History Month program , the Palm Beach County Bar Association , alongside the F . Malcolm Cunningham , Sr . Bar Association , will celebrate the rich legacy of Black judges in Palm Beach County . The event , A Judicial Affair : Honoring our Past and Present Black
Judiciary , will be held on February 18 , 2021 at 12:00 p . m . Former Florida Supreme Court Justice James E . C . Perry will serve as the keynote speaker and the event will honor the past and present Black judiciary in our county and their impact , as well as the importance of a diverse judiciary .
As both organizations planned the program , we were shocked to find that there was no official list of past and present Black judiciary . To remedy that oversight , this article with give a historical overview of the Black judiciary for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County . on the bench , he served as Chief Judge and Administrative Judge in the County and Circuit Courts . Following Judge Rodgers , Judge Maurice Hall was appointed to the Circuit Court bench by Former Governor Robert Graham in 1984 . Two years after his appointment , he ran uncontested to keep his judicial seat and remained on the bench for a total of approximately five and a half years . Judge Jerome Davis was also appointed to the bench in 1984 . He served for two years as the first appearances judge during his tenure .
Governor Graham appointed Judge Isiah “ I . C .” Smith to the bench in 1986 . Judge Smith was a civil rights pioneer , who prior to his tenure on the bench , fought successfully to integrate the county ' s schools , golf courses , and restaurants and bathrooms along Florida ’ s Turnpike in the mid-1950s , alongside Attorney William Holland and others . He served on the bench until 1992 . It should be noted that Mr . Holland was the first Black attorney and the first Black municipal judge in the County .
Chiles , making him the first Black judge to be appointed to this court . He served as Chief Judge from July 1 , 2005 – June 30 , 2007 . Judge Carole Taylor was the first Black female judge to serve on the Fourth District Court of Appeal . She was appointed by Governor Chiles to serve in 1998 . Judge Taylor first became a judge when she was appointed to the Broward County Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in 1991 by Governor Chiles . In 1995 , she was elevated Broward County Circuit Court , making her the first Black female judge to serve on the court . She retired from the Fourth District Court of Appeal in 2020 .
In 1993 , Judge Sheree Cunningham was appointed to the County Court bench by Governor Chiles . She was the first Black female judge in Palm Beach County and served until her retirement in 2020 . Following Judge Cunningham , Judge Moses Baker , Jr . was appointed to the Circuit Court by Governor Chiles in 1994 . While on the bench , he presided in the Juvenile Division and retired in 2017 . Governor Chiles also appointed Judge Catherine Brunson to the Circuit Court bench in 1994 . She is the first Black female attorney in Palm Beach County and the first Black female to be appointed to the Circuit Court bench . Judge Brunson retired in 2018 .
Photo of Judge Edward Rodgers
It all began with the appointment of Judge Edward Rodgers . In 1973 , Former Governor Reubin Askew appointed Judge Rodgers to serve as a County Court judge , making him the first Black judge in Palm Beach County . He was then elevated to the Circuit Court bench in 1977 and served with distinction until his retirement in 1995 . Judge Rodgers was an extraordinary jurist and community leader . During his twenty-two-year tenure
Ret . Judge Carole Taylor , Ret Supreme Court Justice Peggy Quince , Ret Judge Sharee Davis Cunningham
The legacy continued with Judge W . Matthew Stevenson , who was appointed to the Circuit Court bench in 1989 by Former Governor Bob Martinez . He was later appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal in 1994 by Former Governor Lawton
PBCBA BAR BULLETIN 11
Ret . Judge Catherine Brunson
( Continued on next page )