Associated Press
A former Florida Supreme Court justice who wrote a decision that prevented lawyers from excluding jurors because of their race has died.
Court spokesman Craig Waters announced that Parker Lee McDonald died Saturday at his home in Tallahassee. McDonald was 93.
McDonald, who was born in Sebring, was appointed to the state Supreme Court in 1979 by then-Gov. Bob Graham. McDonald served 15 years on the court and retired from the court after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.
He authored the decision regarding jurors in 1984.
He was nicknamed the “Whistling Justice” because a security guard stopped him on his first day and told him no whistling was allowed in the court building. McDonald told the guard he could do what he wanted since he was a justice.
Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
One comment
Betty L. Smith
June 26, 2017 at 11:54 am
Is there still a mandatory retirement age for the Justice’s? If McDonald had to retire at 70, why are the Justice’s in our Supreme Court in Washington still there while in their 80’s and 90’s? This is very interesting.
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