Friday, January 15, 1999
Ceremonial Session: Retirement of Justice Ben F. Overton

Place of Origin
Tallahassee, with Pinellas County connection

Facts
Justice Ben F. Overton has served on the Supreme Court of Florida since his appointment by Gov. Reubin Askew, effective March 27, 1974. He is the appointee from the territorial limits of the Second District Court of Appeal, encompassing counties from Lakeland, the Tampa Bay area, and down to Lee County. His retirement takes effect at midnight Jan. 4, 1999.

Biography
Justice Ben F. Overton was the first Florida Supreme Court Justice to be selected under the merit selection process (effective January 1, 1973), which was designed to remove politics from Florida's judicial system and to improve the quality of the state's courts. He was appointed by Governor Reubin Askew on March 27, 1974, and was the senior member or "Dean" of the Supreme Court from Jan. 6, 1987, until his retirement Jan. 4, 1999. He has been a judicial officer of this State for over thirty years and served as Chief Justice from 1976 to 1978. While Chief Justice, he was a member of the Executive Council of the Conference of Chief Justices and was chair of the Conference's Special Committees on Cameras in the Courtroom and Judicial Education. The standards adopted by those two committees have now been implemented in most states.

Before his selection as a Justice, he served for nearly ten years as a circuit judge in both the civil and criminal divisions of the Sixth Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida, and was the chief judge of that circuit for three and one-half years. In 1973, he was chair of the Florida Conference of Circuit Judges. Justice Overton has also been involved in a number of governmental, legal educational, bar, historical, and professional activities. These include serving as: Chair of the Florida Appellate Structure Commission from 1978-79; a member of the 1978 Florida Constitution Revision Commission and Chair of its Judiciary Committee; Chair of the Florida Family Courts Commission from 1990-91; Chair of the Supreme Court Article V Review Commission in 1984; Chair of the Judicial Council of Florida from 1985-89; and a United States Delegate to Romania to assist the Romanian Parliament in drafting a proposed constitution in 1990. He has been actively involved in education, serving as: adjunct professor at Stetson University College of Law and Florida State University College of Law; Chair of the Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Committee from 1971-74; Chair of the Florida Court Education Council; a faculty member of the National Judicial College from 1968-77; and Chair of the United States Constitution Bicentennial Commission of Florida from 1986-92.

His professional activities have included membership in the American Bar Association, where he served on many of its committees and task forces. These include: Chair of the Subcommittee on Judicial Discipline, drafting Standards for Judicial Discipline approved by the House of Delegates in 1979; Chair of the Task Force on Mental Health Standards for Competency to Stand Trial, approved by the House of Delegates in 1985; Chair of the Appellate Judges Conference Special Committee on Time Standards for Appellate Courts, approved by the House of Delegates in 1987; Chair of the Task Force to Review Criminal Justice Standards on Trial and Discovery, approved by the House of Delegates in August 1993 and August, 1994; member of the ABA Joint Committee on Professional Sanctions imposing discipline on lawyers, approved by the House of Delegates in 1986; member of the Executive Committee of the Appellate Judges Conference from 1976-84; member of the Standing Committee on Standards for Criminal Justice from 1977-85; member of the Council of Section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar from 1986-89; member of the Council on Alternative Dispute Resolution Section 1993 to present; Fellow of the American Bar Foundation; and member of the American Judicature Society Board of Directors from 1980-86, its Executive Committee from 1980-83, and Society secretary from 1981-83.

Justice Overton has received many awards in his career. These include: the Tradition of Excellence Award by the General Practice Section of The Florida Bar in 1995; the Florida Bar Medal of Honor Award in 1984; and the Guardian of the Constitution Award in 1992 for programs developed while he was Chair of the United States Constitution Bicentennial Commission of Florida. He also has been honored by being placed in the National Hall of Fame of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity in 1994; by having the University of Florida Law Review dedicate its September 1993 edition to him; and by receiving the St. Thomas More Award in 1978 from the Catholic Lawyers Guild, Archdiocese of Miami. He has received honorary doctor of law degrees from Stetson and Nova Universities.

Justice Overton was born on December 15, 1926, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He received a bachelor's degree in Business Administration in 1951 and a Juris Doctor degree in 1952 from the University of Florida. He received an LL.M. in Jurisprudence from the University of Virginia in 1984. He is a member of the Episcopal Church, serving as lay reader, member of vestry, and senior warden; a member of the Rotary Club; and a retired Reserve Officer in the Judge Advocate General Corps. Justice Overton and his wife Marilyn have been married since June 9, 1951, and have three children, William H. Overton, Robert M. Overton, and Catherine Overton Mead.