SCBA
President ’ s
COLUMN
Celebrating Hispanic and Native American Heritage Months
On September 23 , I had the great honor to introduce Judge Ruhl at the Florida Jurist : Recognizing Hispanic Excellence event presented by the Broward County Hispanic Bar Association . Although Judge Ruhl serves in my division , I have not previously met her outside the virtual courtroom . This event was a wonderful opportunity for me and for you to get to know Judge Ruhl on a more personal basis . Her life story is truly the quintessential American story of immigrants coming to this country for a better life and succeeding against all odds . I invite all of you to watch Judge Ruhl ’ s interview . Judge Ruhl ’ s story brought tears to my eyes and I believe you will be similarly moved . The link is listed on the next page and on our Facebook page . Congratulations to Judge Ruhl for being recognized as an outstanding Hispanic jurist !
Moving from one cultural celebration to another , November is Native American Heritage month . Since we do not have good statistics on the ethnic makeup of our Bar , I don ’ t know how many members we have with Native American heritage , but I ’ m guessing we have a few . This celebration started around 1915 with the Boy Scouts of America setting aside a day to honor “ First Americans .” They celebrated this day for a three year period at the urging of Dr . Arthur C . Parker , who was a Seneca Indian and the director of the Museum of Arts and Sciences . Thereafter , some states began declaring American Indian Day , the first being New York in May of 1916 . It wasn ’ t until 1990 that President George H . W . Bush approved a joint resolution designating November 1990 “ National American Indian Heritage Month .” Since 1994 , this month has been celebrated under various names . Although I have no Native American heritage , my other half and stepson are both members of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma , so I hold the celebration of Native Americans near and dear to my heart .
Finally , in a complete non-sequitur , I encourage you to consider volunteering with Legal Aid of Manasota . They have a tremendous need right now for attorneys to do document reviews for pro se divorce and paternity litigants . Volunteer attorneys would only need to commit to one two to three hour meeting a month . All the divorce litigants have already been through a pro se divorce clinic , so you would not be starting from scratch with them . Another of Legal Aid ’ s critical needs is representation for victims of domestic violence seeking injunctions for protection . While it is mostly within the practice area of criminal and family law attorneys , I believe that most litigators are capable of handling a domestic violence injunction hearing with a little guidance from a colleague who
6 | THE DOCKET - NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021