Florida Senate - 2016                            (NP)    SR 1242
       
       
        
       By Senator Joyner
       
       19-01847-16                                           20161242__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution remembering the life and legacy of the
    3         Honorable Leander Jerry Shaw, Jr., former Florida
    4         Supreme Court Chief Justice, upon his death.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, the Honorable Leander Jerry Shaw, Jr., son of the
    7  late Leander J. and Margaret Shaw, was born September 6, 1930,
    8  in Salem, Virginia, received a bachelor’s degree from West
    9  Virginia State College, and proudly served his country as an
   10  artillery officer in the Korean War, and
   11         WHEREAS, the Honorable Leander Jerry Shaw, Jr., earned a
   12  Juris Doctorate from Howard University and began his law career
   13  as an assistant professor of law at Florida A&M University, and
   14         WHEREAS, the Honorable Leander Jerry Shaw, Jr., was
   15  admitted to The Florida Bar in 1960 as one of 25 black attorneys
   16  practicing in the state at that time, and
   17         WHEREAS, the Honorable Leander Jerry Shaw, Jr., worked in
   18  private practice in Jacksonville and served as an assistant
   19  public defender and, later, as a state attorney, where he led
   20  the Capital Crimes Division and was an adviser to the grand
   21  jury, and
   22         WHEREAS, the Honorable Leander Jerry Shaw, Jr., was a
   23  loving and patient father to Sherri Shaw Luke, Dione King, Dawn
   24  Sims, Sean Shaw, and the late Leander Jerry Shaw, III, and a
   25  loyal relative and friend to countless others, and
   26         WHEREAS, in 1974, the Honorable Leander Jerry Shaw, Jr.,
   27  was appointed by then-Governor Reubin Askew to the Florida
   28  Industrial Relations Commission, and, in 1979, then-Governor Bob
   29  Graham named him to the First District Court of Appeal, and
   30         WHEREAS, in 1983, the Honorable Leander Jerry Shaw, Jr.,
   31  was appointed by then-Governor Bob Graham to the Florida Supreme
   32  Court, making Justice Shaw the second black member of the high
   33  court and later, its first black Chief Justice, a position he
   34  held from 1990 to 1992, and
   35         WHEREAS, the Honorable Leander Jerry Shaw, Jr., a dedicated
   36  jurist and community leader, is credited with being a pivotal
   37  force in restoring the public’s faith in the integrity of the
   38  Florida Supreme Court following scandals in the 1970s, and
   39         WHEREAS, the Honorable Leander Jerry Shaw, Jr., will be
   40  remembered as an outspoken critic of the state’s use of the
   41  electric chair as a means of execution for capital crimes, and
   42         WHEREAS, the Honorable Leander Jerry Shaw, Jr., who died
   43  December 14, 2015, at the age of 85, will long be remembered as
   44  a trailblazer in the practice of law and as a calm, insightful
   45  jurist and teacher who leaves an enduring legacy of dedication
   46  to public service, NOW, THEREFORE,
   47  
   48  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   49  
   50         That the members of the Senate extend their heartfelt
   51  sympathy to his family upon the death of former Florida Supreme
   52  Court Chief Justice Leander Jerry Shaw, Jr.
   53         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with
   54  the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to the family of
   55  former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Leander Jerry Shaw,
   56  Jr., as a tangible token of the sentiments of the Florida
   57  Senate.