Former Florida Supreme Court Justice Joseph Woodrow Hatchett

Hatchett became the first African American to serve on Florida's highest court when he was appointed by Governor Reubin Askew in 1975. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter named him to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, becoming the first African American to serve in a federal circuit that covered the Deep South at the time.

Born during the days of segregation, Hatchett grew up in Clearwater, Florida and attended Pinellas High School. He took the Florida Bar Exam in 1959 at a time when black examinees could not stay in the hotel where the test was administered because of Jim Crow regulations still in effect.

After graduation from Florida A&M University in 1954, Hatchett was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. He entered Howard University School of Law in 1956 and earned his LLB. degree in 1959.

After admission to the Florida Bar in November 1959, Hatchett entered private practice in Daytona Beach, practicing criminal, civil, administrative, and civil rights law in state and federal courts.

In 1966, Hatchett was appointed Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, and, in 1967, he was designated First Assistant United States Attorney. In 1971, he was appointed United States Magistrate for the Middle District of Florida.

In 1976, in defending his seat on the Florida Supreme Court, Hatchett became the only African American to win a Florida statewide contested election during the twentieth century. It was the last contested election for the Florida Supreme Court before constitutional reforms moved state appeals judges to an uncontested merit selection system.

Hatchett retired in 1999 and returned to private practice in Tallahassee with the Akerman firm.

Hatchett was preceded in death by his mother, Lula G. Hatchett, father, John Hatchett, eight brothers, one sister, and wife, Betty L. Hatchett. He is survived by his longtime companion Delores Grayson, children Cheryl Clark (Edward Clark II) and Brenda Hatchett, grandchildren Roscoe Green (Maiselyn Green), Rashad Green (Meagan Green), Joel Davis, Lauryn Davis, Marcus Clark (Wren Clark), James Davis, Edward Clark III, Sharilyn Metellus (Fritz Metellus), and great-grandchildren Jordyn Jean, Jackson Woodrow Green, Hampton Leeander Green, Jade Metellus, Poppy Clark, Jaden Clark, Edward Clark IV, Heiress Clark, and Mirelyz Green, and a host of nieces, nephews, godchildren, former law clerks and friends.

Hatchett will Lie in State at the Florida Supreme Court on Friday, May 7, 2021 from 11:00 a.m. ¬1 :00 p.m. The Florida Supreme Court is located at 500 South Duval Street in Tallahassee, Florida.

Funeral Services will be held at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church on Saturday, May 8, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. Bethel Missionary Baptist Church is located at 224 North Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in Tallahassee, Florida.

Those unable to attend the service may join via livestream at: https://livestream.com/betheltally/homegoingservices .

Services Entrusted to Culley's MeadowWood Funeral Homes & MeadowWood Memorial Park, Tallahassee, Florida