LEGAL LEGACY FAMU COLLEGE OF LAW UNVEILS JUDGES GALLERY TO CELEBRATE SCHOOL’S 20TH ANNIVERSARY IN ORLANDO

BY [ Andrew J. SKERRITT ]

Florida A&M University (FAMU) College of Law unveiled portraits of 16 past and present judges, all graduates of the school, in its Judges Gallery. It was unveiled on May 7, 2022, on the first floor of the law school’s downtown Orlando campus. It was one of several events to celebrate the school’s 20th anniversary in Orlando.

To signify the importance of the event, FAMU College of Law Dean Deidré Keller used the words of retired Judge Perker L. Meeks, a 1968 graduate of the original College of Law, who served on the bench in California for 26 years. Meeks served on the Superior Court of San Francisco County for eight years before he retired in 2006. Meeks, who was represented by his relatives, sent remarks about the important relationship between law school students and alumni judges.

“Judges are as informed by their colleagues on the bench as those who aspire to the bench,” Meeks said. “So, it’s important for students to know who the judges were who once stood where they did, because therein lies an opportunity for both the student and the judge to exchange thoughts, ideas, opinions, and perspectives with one another. And both are better for it.”

Dean Keller said the event was far more than ceremonial.

“Our purpose tonight is to not only honor the alumni judges but to also take action that serves to educate and inspire the next generation of lawyers and leaders,” Keller said. “We are confident that this gallery of judges’ photographs will do just that, for many years to come.”

The ceremony was also attended by FAMU President Larry Robinson, Ph.D., and FAMU

Trustees, Otis Cliatt II, and Ann Marie Cavazos, a member of the College of Law faculty and president of the FAMU Faculty Senate.

President Robinson spoke about the diversity of the group of judges present, and reminded the gathering that 80 percent of African American judges attended a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), including FAMU.

“Justice is a core value of the America in which we live. The work you do is always invaluable and cannot be replaced,” Robinson told the judges. “It’s wonderful to see Rattlers in these places.”

ALCEE HASTINGS (class of 1963) was a federal judge before he was elected to the U.S. Congress. He died in 2021 at age 84.

EDWARD RODGERS (1963) was a Palm Beach County judge. He died in 2018 at age 91.

RALPH FLOWERS (1968) served as a municipal judge in Fort Pierce, Fla., during the mid-1970s. He died in 2014 at age 78.

PERKER MEEKS (1968) served on the Superior Court of San Francisco County.

JANINE VAN DUSEN (2007), associate judge at Tulalip Tribal Court, Camano Island, Washington.

AMY CARTER (2008), Ninth Judicial Circuit, Orange County, Fla.

KELLY INGRAM (2008), Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, Brevard County, Fla.

HAUSBROUCK JACOBS (2008), Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, Columbia, Missouri.

VICTORIA JOHNSON (2008), Magistrate Court, Dougherty County, Ga.

STACIE KAYLOR (2008), Tenth Judicial Circuit, Polk County, Fla.

GABRIELLE SANDERS-MORENCY (2009), Ninth Judicial Circuit Osceola County, Fla.

Though the present law school was reestablished in 2002, Robinson said, the FAMU College of Law has an even longer history.

“The Law School started with its first class in 1951. There have been Rattlers doing wonderful things for generations,” Robinson added. “The whole idea of this gallery is having them be acknowledged so that every visitor can see what this institution is doing in 2022. That has tremendous value.”

The Judges Gallery will be updated to include portraits of additional College of Law graduates who served or are serving in the judiciary as the information is confirmed.

MIKAELA NIX-WALKER (2009), Ninth Judicial Circuit, Osceola County, Fla.

DEVIN COLLIER (2011), Fourteenth Judicial Circuit, Bay County, Fla.

CHRISTY COLLINS (2011), Ninth Judicial Circuit, Orange County, Fla.

SHALANDA WILLIAMS (2012), Magistrate Court, Henry County, Ga.

ANDREW BAIN, (2013) Ninth Judicial Circuit, Orange County, Fla.