Justice Parker Lee McDonald
Former Justice Parker Lee McDonald was the 68th Justice on the Supreme Court and served from 1979-1994.
Born in Sebring, Florida, McDonald attended the University of Florida and later received his degree from its law school in 1950 after service in the U.S. Army interrupted his studies. He later went into private practice in Orlando with a firm that eventually became Gurney McDonald & Handley.
McDonald was appointed to the Ninth Judicial Circuit bench in 1961 and served there until his appointment to the Florida Supreme Court in 1979 by then-Gov. Bob Graham.
In the mid to late 1970s, McDonald was one of several newly appointed Justices who elevated the reputation of the Court after it earlier had become involved in scandal. He was well known for his groundbreaking opinions restricting the ability of prosecutors to remove jurors from a case solely because of their race – a view later adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Supreme Court history is full of anecdotes about newly appointed Justices whose first visit to the Court was marred by some staffer's ignorance of the new judge's identity. Justice Stephen Grimes had his car towed on his first visit, for example. But no such story tops that of Justice Parker Lee McDonald.
On his first day, Justice McDonald was taking a leisurely stroll through his new office building, whistling happily to himself. When he chanced into the rotunda area, a security guard walked up to Justice McDonald and informed him that whistling was strictly forbidden in the building. Without batting an eye, Justice McDonald looked the hapless guard in the eye and informed him that he would whistle as he pleased, given the fact he was a new Justice.
During his distinguished career on the Court, Justice McDonald also was known for his forthright appraisal of views espoused by other Justices. One of his trademarks was to draw a smiley face on Court papers that pleased him and a frowny face on those that did not. Many young law clerks felt they finally had proven themselves when their work first earned one of those difficult-to-obtain smiley faces!
Quick facts about Justice McDonald:
- Served as Justice from October 26, 1979 - May 31, 1994 and as Chief Justice from 1986-1988
- Born: May 23, 1924 - Sebring, Florida
- Died: June 24, 2017 - Tallahassee, Florida at the age of 93
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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