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Craig Waters
Waters briefing during Bush v. Gore, December 2000
Craig Waters (born 1956 in Pensacola,Florida) is a former public information officer who served as the Communications Director for the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee from June 1,1996,to February 28,2022. In 1994,the then Chief Justice Gerald Kogan appointed Waters as a staff attorney and established the Court’s Office of Public Information. Waters worked in areas related to government transparency and First Amendment rights[1] during his tenure as a lawyer and government official.[2][3][4][5] He also served as the Court’s spokesperson during the 2000 presidential election,[6] publicly announcing the Court’s rulings regarding the Florida vote.[7]
Waters worked as a reporter for four years with the Florida Gannett newspapers,from 1979 to 1983,and won multiple awards. These included recognition for work in increasing transparency,primarily by publishing court records online.[11][12]
Waters founded the Florida Court Public Information Officers Inc. (FCPIO),a federally recognized non-profit organized for educational purposes. FCPIO serves as a network of Florida's court PIOs with members in all 27 subdivisions of the state court system,with regular meetings across Florida.[13][14][15]
Career at the Florida Supreme Court
Waters began work at the Florida Supreme Court on March 2,1987,as a law clerk (staff attorney) for Justice Rosemary Barkett.[16] Waters also advised Justice Gerald Kogan from Miami. Upon becoming Chief Justice in 1996,Kogan moved Waters permanently into court administration along with his communications job.[17]
In the early 1990s,Waters helped create and expand the Florida Supreme Court's website.[18] In 1994,he led an effort to place all court documents in high profile cases on the Web for instant public access.[7][19]
In September 1997,in cooperation with Florida State University,Waters also launched the first comprehensive program to broadcast all court arguments live on television,via satellite,on cable systems,and through webcasts. That program,now called Gavel to Gavel,[20] remains in place today and has been imitated by other courts.[21] The media mentioned Waters' work[22] in the year 2000 for putting pressure on federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court to provide the public greater technological access to their proceedings.[23]
Waters had worked at the Florida Supreme Court since 1987.
In the early 2000s,Waters made the Florida Supreme Court a pioneer in using emerging social media platforms such as Facebook,Twitter,Instagram,and LinkedIn to communicate with the public.[24][25] This work was influenced by Waters' prior career as a Florida journalist[26] and by his experience as an openly gay man.[27]
In 2015,Waters began implementing Chief Justice Jorge Labarga's plans,approved by the entire Florida Supreme Court,to implement a statewide communications plan for the state courts. The plan relies heavily on the use of Public Information Officers (PIOs) at all 27 divisions of the Florida State Courts and calls for increasing use of social media and emerging technologies such as smartphones. The plan is being implemented through an organization Waters founded a decade earlier,the Florida Court Public Information Officers,Inc.,a federally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed as a professional association.[28] Waters retired after 35 years on February 28,2022.[29][30]
For more than a month following the November 7, 2000, election, Florida's vote for the presidency remained undecided and too close to call, with the outcome hinging on legal decisions from the Florida Supreme Court that were announced by Waters on live worldwide television.[31][32] The first decision occurred on November 21, 2000, when Waters announced a court ruling extending the vote-counting deadline previously set by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris. The second was on December 8, 2000, when Waters announced a decision requiring a statewide recount of ballots. The United States Supreme Courtoverruled this last decision on December 12, 2000, in an opinion that effectively awarded the presidency to George W. Bush.[33]
Waters is portrayed in the HBO movie Recount by the actor Alex Stagg's. The film, which had a broadcast premiere on May 25, 2008, chronicled the events in Florida during the presidential election lawsuits and appeals.[34]
Waters talks with reporters before oral arguments, December 7, 2000
The actual Florida Supreme Court listens to December 7, 2000, arguments
Photo of actor Alex Staggs taken during filming on location for HBO movie Recount, November 3, 2007, on the front steps of the Florida Supreme Court Building in Tallahassee, Florida.
Reenactment of the December 7 argument during filming on November 4, 2007
Writings and scholarship
A writer and legal scholar, Waters' works include "Waters' Dictionary of Florida Law" published by London-based Butterworth's, a three-volume treatise "AIDS and Florida Law" also published by Butterworth's, and several dozen scholarly articles on various subjects generally related to civil rights, AIDS and disability law, court emergency preparedness, and the use of technology to improve court and media relations. He is the co-author of a comprehensive article on Florida Supreme Court protocol and jurisdiction.[33]
In 2008, the article "Technological Transparency: Appellate Court & Media Relations after Bush v. Gore" was published by the Journal of Appellate Practice & Process. It chronicled the emerging use of public spokespersons and high-technology communication increasingly employed by courts worldwide in the 21st century.[33]
Waters gave a speech at the 10th International Court Technology Conference, organized in 2007 by the National Center for State Courts.[35] He is the co-author of a professional paper describing how state and federal disability laws will require rethinking current practices in creating and maintaining court websites.[36]
Other activities
Waters is the founding president of the Florida Court Public Information Officers, Inc.,[37] a federally recognized tax-exempt organization.[38] He has been heavily involved in activities of The Florida Bar, including serving on the editorial board of the Florida Bar Journal and the Florida Bar News. He also serves on the Florida Bar Media & Communications Law Committee and has chaired and hosted many of its ongoing programs of outreach to media. These include the annual Florida Bar Reporters Workshop, held each fall at the Florida Supreme Court Building, a program for training journalists in reporting on the courts and the law.[39]
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