Florida Senate - 2009                            (NP)    SR 2734
       
       
       
       By Senator Pruitt
       
       
       
       
       28-03025A-09                                          20092734__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution honoring the career and life of Judge
    3         David Harper.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, Judge David Harper graduated from the University
    6  of Southwestern Louisiana in 1967 and from the Tulane University
    7  School of Law in 1970, the same year he was admitted to The
    8  Florida Bar, and
    9         WHEREAS, in 1971, Judge David Harper was first elected as a
   10  Martin County judge, a position he retained through numerous
   11  elections throughout his career on the bench, and
   12         WHEREAS, Judge David Harper served his community with
   13  fairness, justice, honesty, and humor, and treated every citizen
   14  who came through his courtroom with dignity and respect, and
   15         WHEREAS, Judge David Harper was known for his exceedingly
   16  down-to-earth manner, treating each member of the courthouse
   17  staff as an equal and a friend, and
   18         WHEREAS, Judge Harper’s fellow judges revered him as a
   19  statesman and one-of-a-kind jurist, qualities that were
   20  reflected through his mentoring of countless young attorneys on
   21  the Treasure Coast, and
   22         WHEREAS, Judge David Harper not only gave back to his
   23  community through his civic duties, but through volunteering,
   24  especially with the Boy Scouts of America, of which he was a
   25  devoted champion, and
   26         WHEREAS, Judge David Harper was an avid outdoorsman as a
   27  Life Member of the National Rifle Association and Executive
   28  Director of the Martin County Sportsmen’s Association, which he
   29  founded with Don Lindh in 1978 from the floor of his courtroom,
   30  and
   31         WHEREAS, Judge David Harper was a family man, eternally
   32  devoted to his children and grandchildren, and
   33         WHEREAS, Judge David Harper was a 38-year veteran of the
   34  bench in Martin County and the longest-serving county court
   35  judge in the State of Florida, and
   36         WHEREAS, Judge David Harper died on March 17, 2009, at the
   37  age of 63, NOW, THEREFORE,
   38  
   39  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   40  
   41         That the Senate recognizes the life and passing of Judge
   42  David Harper by posthumously commending his numerous
   43  contributions and outstanding service to the Nineteenth Judicial
   44  Circuit of Florida, the Treasure Coast communities, and the
   45  people of Martin County.