Major Best Harding (born October 13, 1935) is an attorney and former Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court. He was appointed to the court by Governor Lawton Chiles in 1991 and served until 2002. His tenure as chief justice lasted from 1998 to June 2000. Prior to being appointed to the Florida Supreme Court, Harding served as a circuit judge for Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit and as a Duval County juvenile court judge.
In 2014, Florida State University appointed him to adjudicate the disciplinary hearing of Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston concerning allegations that Winston violated the university's Student Conduct Code. [1]
Harding received his undergraduate and law degrees from Wake Forest University. He also holds a Master of Laws in Judicial Process from the University of Virginia.
Harding continues to practice law as a shareholder of the Ausley McMullen firm in Tallahassee, Florida.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York, and Vermont, and it has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:
William Rufus Day was an American diplomat and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1903 to 1922. Prior to his service on the Supreme Court, Day served as United States Secretary of State during the administration of President William McKinley. He also served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the United States Circuit Courts for the Sixth Circuit.
David Bryan Sentelle is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He previously was a U.S. district judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina from 1985 to 1987.
Rosemary Barkett is a Mexican-American judge of the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal located in The Hague, Netherlands since 2013. Previously, she served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Prior to her nomination for that post, she was chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court.
Steven Michael Colloton is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit since 2003. He became chief judge in March 2024.
Jorge Labarga is a justice of the Florida Supreme Court, taking office on January 6, 2009. On June 30, 2014, he was sworn in as Florida's 56th Chief Justice and the first Cuban-American to hold the post. He was succeeded on July 1, 2018, by Charles T. Canady.
Gerald Bard Tjoflat is an American lawyer and Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He previously served as a U.S. district judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida from 1970 to 1975 and as a state court judge on the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida from 1968 to 1970.
Joseph Woodrow Hatchett was an American lawyer and judge. He worked in private practice, was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Eleventh Circuit, and served on the Florida Supreme Court.
During his only term in office, President Herbert Hoover appointed three members of the Supreme Court of the United States: Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes, and Associate Justices Owen Roberts and Benjamin Cardozo. Additionally, with his failed nomination of John J. Parker, Hoover became the first president since Grover Cleveland to have a Supreme Court nomination rejected by the United States Senate.
During his time in office, President Warren G. Harding appointed four members of the Supreme Court of the United States: Chief Justice William Howard Taft, and Associate Justices George Sutherland, Pierce Butler, and Edward Terry Sanford.
Albert Diaz is an American lawyer who is the chief circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Diaz is the first Hispanic judge to serve on the Fourth Circuit. Prior to his appointment to the Court of Appeals, Diaz was a North Carolina state superior court judge and an appellate judge for the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals.
Jeffrey Vincent Brown is a United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas and a former justice of the Texas Supreme Court. He was appointed to the U.S. District Court by President Donald Trump.
Michael P. Boggs is an American judge who served as the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, a former judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals and a former nominee to be a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. He was appointed to the state Supreme Court by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal.
Benjamin K. Miller was an American judge in Illinois. He was a member of the Illinois Supreme Court from 1984 to 2001. He served as chief justice from 1991 to 1994.
Peter M. Weinstein is an American politician in the state of Florida.
Carlos Genaro Muñiz is the chief justice on the Florida Supreme Court. He was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis on January 22, 2019. Previously, he was General Counsel of the United States Department of Education.
Robert Joshua Luck is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He was a justice of the Florida Supreme Court in 2019. A Miami native, he previously served as an assistant United States attorney and as a judge on the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida and then the Florida Third District Court of Appeal.