Justice Harry Lee Anstead
Harry Lee Anstead was raised as the youngest of six children by his mother, Loretta, in Jacksonville's Brentwood housing project just after the Great Depression and in the years during and after World War II. He began work at a young age, cutting lawns, moving furniture, doing anything to help support himself and his family and build a future career as a lawyer and public servant. He advanced to the highest judicial office in state government on July 1, 2002, when he became Florida's 50th Chief Justice, serving in that capacity through June 2004.
Justice Anstead worked his way through both undergraduate and law school at the University of Florida and he later was the first sitting judge in the United States to earn an academic degree in the judicial process when he was awarded a Master of Laws degree at the University of Virginia. Between undergraduate and law school he served with the National Security Agency in Washington, D.C.
Justice Anstead was a trial and appellate lawyer in South Florida until 1977 when he became a judge of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, where he served as Chief Judge and from time to time as a circuit and county judge throughout the district. As an appellate judge, he was especially noted for the many dissenting and other opinions later approved or adopted by the Florida Supreme Court. During his tenure he was honored by being nominated for appointment to the Supreme Court by four successive statewide nominating commissions. As a citizen, lawyer, and judge he served his community and profession in a host of ways including service to charities, government, church, schools, children, and other community-building institutions. He is a direct descendant of veterans of the American Revolutionary War and the Civil War and is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. He and his wife Sue have been life-long child advocates, and Justice Anstead has been inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America in recognition of his service.
On August 29, 1994, Justice Anstead was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by Governor Lawton Chiles. While on the Court, Justice Anstead has initiated a number of changes to the Court's internal procedures to improve the quality and efficiency of the process. He also initiated a comprehensive statewide program to improve professionalism among judges, lawyers, and law schools in the state. His initiative included the creation of a Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism and a permanent Center for Professionalism at The Florida Bar. The American Bar Association has recognized this initiative as the most significant recent professionalism initiative in the nation, and Justice Anstead has been recognized by Florida lawyers as the father of the modern professionalism movement in Florida. He has served on the Judges Advisory Committee to the ABA Committee on Ethics. He is the author of numerous publications on the law and has served on the boards of trustees of two Florida law schools. During his judicial tenure, he has consistently ranked among the highest in statewide polls.
The major priority during his two-year administration as Chief Justice was maintaining the excellence of Florida's trial courts during a time of transition and improving the lot of children whose lives are affected by the courts. Under a 1998 constitutional amendment, funding for Florida's trial courts shifted from local budgets to the state budget by the time he left office as Chief Justice in 2004, and he led the effort to protect Florida's trial courts during this critical time.
Justice Anstead and his wife Sue, a lawyer and child advocate herself, have five children. Chris is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the University of Florida law school. Jim is a graduate of FloridaStateUniversity. Laura is a graduate of FloridaStateUniversity and South Texas College of Law. Amy is a graduate of ArizonaState and a student at the University of Miami College of Medicine. Michael is a graduate of the University of Florida.