The legal community is grieving the loss of Florida’s first African-American Chief Justice Leander J. Shaw, Jr. who died early Monday morning after a lengthy illness.
Shaw, 85, Shaw was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by Gov. Bob Graham in 1983, becoming the second black justice, following Justice Joseph Hatchett. He became chief justice in 1990 and served until 1992, eventually retiring from the bench in 2003.
Appointed to the court in the 1970s, after scandals that led to changes in how justices were selected. Justices had been elected until an investigation into allegations that some were improperly influenced by people who donated to their campaigns.
The justice leader was considered one of the most liberal justices during his time on the court. He angered conservatives when he wrote an opinion in 1989 that affirmed a woman’s right to have an abortion.
Shaw is survived by his four children.
