Jorge Labarga (born October 21, 1952) 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.

Biography

Labarga was born in Havana, Cuba in 1952 to Miriam and Jorge Labarga, Sr.[2][3] He grew up and graduated high school in Pahokee, Florida the heavily agricultural Lake Okeechobee region of western Palm Beach County. He graduated from Forest Hill High School, West Palm Beach in 1972 and received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Florida, Gainesville in 1976.[4][5] He received his Juris Doctor from University of Florida School of Law in 1979. After law school he became an assistant public defender. In 1982, he joined the state attorney's office. From 1987 to 1992, he joined the law firm of Cone, Wagner, Nugent, Roth, Romano & Ericksen, P.A. In 1992, he was a founding partner with the law firm of Roth, Duncan & Labarga, P.A. In 1996, Governor Lawton Chiles appointed him a circuit court judge.[2]

Judicial career

From 1996 to 2009, he served as a judge for the 15th Circuit Court in Palm Beach County, Florida. He is notable as the non-partisan judge who refused a new county-only vote during the 2000 U.S. Presidential election on the grounds that the Constitution stated that an election must be held everywhere in the United States on the same day, not just in one area.[6]

Prior to his Florida Supreme Court appointment, Labarga had been appointed by Governor Charlie Crist to the Fourth District Court of Appeal for Florida, an intermediate appellate court based in West Palm Beach, Florida. He served in that position only a single day, January 5, 2009. His term on that court was cut short when Governor Crist quickly elevated Labarga to the Florida Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Harry Lee Anstead. On June 30, 2014, Labarga was sworn in as the 56th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Florida, replacing former Chief Justice Ricky Polston.[5] Labarga is the first person of Hispanic descent to lead the state of Florida's judicial branch.[7]

Personal life

Labarga is married to Zulma R. Labarga, and they have two daughters.[2][3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "BIOGRAPHIES OF STATE AND COUNTY COURT JUDGES IN FLORIDA" (PDF).
  2. ^ a b c "Justice Jorge Labarga". Florida Supreme Court. Archived from the original on October 25, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Jorge Labarga: Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court". The Florida Bar. 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  4. ^ Musgrave, Jane. "Former Palm Beach County circuit judge will serve as chief justice of Florida Supreme Court", The Palm Beach Post online, January 29, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Chief Justice Jorge Labarga". Florida Supreme Court Website. Archived from the original on 2016-11-23. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  6. ^ "Florida circuit judge rules new election not legal". www.cnn.com. November 20, 2000. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  7. ^ Id.

External links

Legal offices
Preceded by Justice of the Supreme Court of Florida
2009–present 		Incumbent
Preceded by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Florida
2014–2018 		Succeeded by