2015 Inductees

To permanently honor outstanding and notable alumni of the University of Florida Levin College of Law and their contributions to the state and University, the Law Center Association Board of Trustees established the Heritage of Leadership Recognition Society. The Selection Committee determined the initial classes of inductees, barring exceptional circumstances, would be honored posthumously.

Class of 2015

Askew

Gov. Reubin O’D. Askew (1928-2014)

Class of 1956. As prosecuting attorney, state legislator, governor of Florida for eight years, chairman of two federal commissions, and ambassador and member of the president’s Cabinet, Reubin O’Donovan Askew served at every level of American government.

Askew graduated from UF Law in 1956 before entering the military to serve in the US Air Force during the Korean War. He was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1958 and served two terms before winning a seat in the Florida Senate in 1962.

He served there until his election as Florida’s 37th governor, in 1970, where he advocated tax fairness, racial equality, managed growth and ethical government. The Askew years have been widely characterized as years of achievement, reform, and successful transition for Florida and he is often referred to as one of the 10 greatest American governors of the 20th century.

Fox

Sen. Roberta F. Fox (1943-2009)

Class of 1967. A powerful advocate for gender equality, Roberta Fox dedicated her career to fighting for equal protections of rights for otherwise voiceless communities. She earned her bachelor and JD degrees from UF and graduated as one of a handful of women in her class. She entered the law field at a time when women were not taken seriously, and despite being shunned from a few law firms, she began working for Migrant Legal Services, a period that spurred her career in public service.

She eventually opened the Law Offices of Gold & Fox P.A. where she concentrated in the areas of personal injury and employment, family law and civil rights. While practicing, she ran for and won a seat in the Florida House, where she was later re-elected twice. She was then elected to the Florida Senate in 1982. Here, she was instrumental in passing the Florida Equal Education Opportunity Act in 1984 and chaired the Florida Committee on Health and Rehabilitative Services during the mid-1980s.

Peele

S. Austin Peele (1938-2011)

Class of 1963. From a young age, Peele knew he wanted to study law and help people tell their stories. He studied English at Wofford College and then went on to receive his JD from UF in 1963. After graduation, he joined Jopling & Darby, which later became Darby & Peele. He practiced in the areas of real estate, land dispute and matters dealing with property rights.

He remained a partner with the firm his entire career and was also involved in the Florida law community. He was one of eight members on the Designation Coordinated Committee that led to the establishment of the Florida Board Certification Plan and served on the board of governors for the Florida Bar. He was also active in the UF Law community as a member of the Law Center Association Board of Trustees.

The Florida Constitutional Law Endowment in memory of Justice Ben F. Overton was created by Judge Karen Miller in 2013. This fund supports lectures and presentations by Justices of the Florida Supreme Court at the Fredric G. Levin College of Law.

HISTORY

Justice Overton, who earned his B.S. in 1951 and his Juris Doctor in 1952 from the University of Florida, was the first merit appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Throughout his career he was active in legal education and served as an Adjunct Professor at the Levin College of Law through December 2012, the month of his death. Although he resided at Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, a continuing care retirement community developed in cooperation with UF, he also considered the Florida Supreme Court “home.” Among the high points of his later years was hosting Justices of the Florida Supreme Court in Gainesville and taking his class to Tallahassee to hear oral arguments at the Florida Supreme Court.
Judge Miller, who earned her B.S. cum laude from New York University in 1974 and her Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 1977, served as Chief Administrative Law Judge of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, New York City’s business regulatory agency, before she retired to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida. Having accompanied Justice Overton on his excursions to Tallahassee and joined him in welcoming guests to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, she created the endowment in memory of Justice Overton to ensure that the Levin College of Law continues to have the funding necessary to continue and enhance the interaction between its students and the Florida Supreme Court.

Judge Miller remembered the event that motivated the endowment.

Prior to a dinner at the home of Dean Robert Jerry and Lisa Jerry shortly after Justice Overton’s death, Justice Barbara Pariente and I were discussing a suitable memorial. Justice Pariente, who had been Justice Overton’s colleague on the Florida Supreme Court and who understood the importance to him of the interaction between his students and the Court, suggested the outline of what has become the Overton lectures. Dean Jerry, who has since retired, as has Dean Emeritus Jon Mills, who assumed responsibility for implementing the Overton lectures, were very supportive from the beginning. Since Dean Mills’ retirement, Professor Timothy McClendon, who assisted both Justice Overton and Dean Mills teaching Florida Constitutional Law and who co-authored the recent Florida Constitutional Law casebook, has continued the Overton lectures with the support of Interim Dean Merritt McAlister and CGR director, Professor Danaya Wright.

Justice Overton was a devoted jurist, educator, and ethical leader of the Florida legal profession. The Overton Lecture Series brings Florida Supreme Court Justices to the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, and serves to introduce students to the inner workings of the Court. CGR and the students of the College of Law extend our deepest gratitude to Judge Karen Miller for making the Overton Lectures possible in perpetuity.

You can watch an interview for the Florida Historical Society by Mary Adkins, professor emeritus of the UF Levin College of Law, with Justice Overton here.

Justice Overton was also interviewed for the Samuel Proctor Oral History Project and a transcript of his interview is available at the Smathers Library, and here.
Justice Overton sat on the Constitution Revision Commission of 1977-78 that proposed a right to privacy in the Florida Constitution. Although it failed as part of the Constitution Revision Commission recommendations, it passed in 1980 when proposed by the legislature. The bill was co-sponsored by our very own Jon Mills. The privacy provision prevailed by greater than 60%. Justice Overton then wrote a concurrence in a critical reproductive rights case in 1989 affirming that the privacy provision of the Florida Constitution included the right to obtain an abortion. That decision was overruled in Planned Parenthood of SW and Central Florida v. Florida. You can read about the role of Justice Overton, Jon Mills – director emeritus of CGR, and the history of the 1989 case here.