Leander Shaw 1930-
First African American on the Florida Supreme Court
Leander Shaw comes from a family of educators. His mother was a high school teacher and his father was a high school principal. When Shaw graduated from West Virginia State College, he joined the United States Army. He was discriminated against because of his race when he was an officer in the Korean War. Partly because of this experience, Shaw wanted to improve America's civil rights. He decided to go to law school to make a difference.
In 1957, Shaw moved to Tallahassee, Florida, where he became an assistant professor of law at Florida A&M University. Later, Shaw had his own law practice in Jacksonville and then became a public defender. A public defender works as an unpaid lawyer for people who don't have the money to pay for a lawyer.
Shaw has dedicated his life to law. Today, he is the first African American justice of the Florida Supreme Court.
Critical Thinking
Why would a State Supreme Court justice, such as Shaw, be able to improve America's civil rights?