Justice Bonnie Kaslo Roberts
Former Justice B.K. Roberts was the 49th Justice on the Supreme Court. He served from 1949-1976. B.K. Roberts’s family settled in North Florida in the 1840s and enjoyed modest prosperity.
Roberts did well in school, but briefly tried construction work. He turned back to education, attending the University of Florida, where he developed a friendship with fellow student, and future governor, Fuller Warren.
He also developed an interest in the law, graduating from the University of Florida in 1928. While still a student, he made the acquaintance of Edward Ball, a powerful Jacksonville businessman.
Roberts practiced law in Tallahassee until 1949. During those years he invested in land and businesses in the area and achieved great financial success. He served as shipping commissioner for the Port of Jacksonville during World War II. In 1948, he assisted Fuller Warren in his successful bid to be governor of Florida. Roberts was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court soon after.
Roberts was influential in creating much-needed improvements to the judicial branch of state government. He helped start the District Court of Appeal system and the Florida public defender system, and also served on state constitutional revision commissions in 1968 and 1972.
He helped create a new law school at Florida State University in 1965. He guided the creation and work of the Edward Ball Wildlife Foundation to preserve Wakulla Springs.
He also generated controversy because his personal friendships conflicted at times with his conduct of court business. He retired from the court in 1975, during a time of serious public concern over the actions of several justices on the court. Roberts practiced law in Tallahassee until his death in 1999.
Quick facts about Justice Roberts:
Bonnie Kaslo Roberts (Leon) [served 27 years, 3 months]
Served September 1, 1949 –December 1, 1976 as Justice
Served March 14, 1953 – January 11, 1955; July 1, 1961 – July 1, 1963 and January 5, 1971 – January 1, 1973 as Chief Justice [appointed at age 42]
b. Sopchoppy, Florida, February 5, 1907 d. August 4, 1999, Tallahassee, Florida
County Judge: No. Circuit Judge: No.
Former Justices
- Justice Robert J. Luck
- Justice Barbara Lagoa
- Justice Alan Lawson
- Justice James E.C. Perry
- Justice Ricky Polston
- Justice Kenneth B. Bell
- Justice Raoul G. Cantero
- Justice Peggy A. Quince
- Justice R. Fred Lewis
- Justice Barbara J. Pariente
- Justice Harry Lee Anstead
- Justice Charles Talley Wells
- Justice Major B. Harding
- Justice Gerald Kogan
- Justice Stephen H. Grimes
- Justice Rosemary Barkett
- Justice Leander J. Shaw, Jr.
- Justice Raymond Ehrlich
- Justice Parker Lee McDonald
- Justice James E. Alderman
- Justice Frederick Brennan Karl
- Justice Joseph Woodrow Hatchett
- Justice Alan C. Sundberg
- Justice Arthur J. England, Jr.
- Justice Ben. F. Overton
- Justice Hal P. Dekle
- Justice David Lucius McCain
- Justice Joseph Arthur Boyd, Jr.
- Justice James Calhoun Adkins, Jr.
- Justice Vassar Benjamin Carlton
- Justice Wade Lee Hopping
- Justice Richard William Ervin
- Justice Millard Fillmore Caldwell
- Justice Stephen C. O'Connell
- Justice Benjamin Campbell Thornal
- Justice Edward Harris Drew
- Justice John Elie Mathews
- Justice Bonnie Kaslo Roberts
- Justice Tolbert Frank Hobson
- Justice Paul Dryden Barns
- Justice Harold Leon "Tom" Sebring
- Justice Alto Lee Adams
- Justice Elwyn Thomas
- Justice Roy Harrison Chapman
- Justice Fred Henry Davis
- Justice Rivers Henderson Buford
- Justice Louie Willard Strum
- Justice Armstead Brown
- Justice William Glenn Terrell
- Justice Thomas Franklin West
- Justice Jefferson Beale Browne
- Justice William Hull Ellis
- Justice Charles Breckenridge Parkhill
- Justice James Bryan Whitfield
- Justice William Adams Hocker
- Justice Evelyn Croom Maxwell
- Justice Robert Spratt Cockrell
- Justice Thomas M. Shackleford
- Justice Francis Beauregard Carter
- Justice Benjamin Sullivan Liddon
- Justice Milton Harvey Mabry
- Justice Robert Fenwick Taylor
- Justice Henry Laurens Mitchell
- Justice Geoge Pettus Raney
- Justice George Gray Mcwhorter
- Justice Robert Bruce Van Valkenburgh
- Justice Franklin D. Fraser
- Justice James Diament Westcott, Jr.
- Justice Ossian Bingley Hart
- Justice Edwin M. Randall
- Justice Samuel James Douglas
- Justice James Mcnair Baker
- Justice Augustus Emmet Maxwell
- Justice David Shelby Walker
- Justice William Augustus Forward
- Justice Bird Murphy Pearson
- Justice Charles H. Dupont
- Justice Benjamin D. Wright
- Justice Albert Gallatin Semmes
- Justice Leslie Atchinson Thompson
- Justice Walker Anderson
- Justice Joseph Bradford Lancaster
- Justice George W. Macrae
- Justice George Sydney Hawkins
- Justice Thomas Baltzell
- Justice Thomas Douglas
Contact Information
Florida Supreme Court
500 South Duval Street
Tallahassee, Florida
32399-1925 | EMAIL
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