Farewell to a Constitutional Champion
Unless you are a judge, lawyer, or litigant, you may not know the name Bill Sheppard. But if you are a citizen who enjoys the protections provided by the United States and Florida Constitutions, Bill Sheppard was your advocate and friend even if you never met him or knew who he was.
The Oath of Admission to the Florida Bar contains these words: “I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Florida…I will never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed.”
Bill Sheppard didn’t just say those words. For more than 50 years as one of Florida’s and the nation’s most outstanding civil rights attorneys, he lived them with every ounce of his being. His passing on April 9th at the age of 80 leaves an enormous void in the Florida legal community and justice system.
As Andrew Pantazi reported in The Tributary, Bill Sheppard’s legal advocacy “legalized same-sex marriage in Florida, led to a federal takeover of state prisons, sparked the construction of a less crowded county jail and forced the City of Jacksonville into a consent decree over its discrimination against Black firefighters.” These were just some of Bill’s efforts to achieve justice, which is why he was honored with the Florida Bar Foundation Medal of Honor, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid Robert J. Beckham Equal Justice Award, and other distinctions.
I was one of the lucky people who had the privilege to know Bill Sheppard for my entire life. When I was born in the 1970s, Bill and my father were law partners at Sheppard, Fletcher, Hand, Adams, and Carithers — Florida’s first racially integrated law firm. The firm was an inspiring collection of attorneys and people. In addition to Bill and my Dad, it featured future Atlantic Beach Mayor Lyman Fletcher; future Circuit Court Judge Hugh Carithers; and future U.S. District Judge Henry Adams — the first Black federal judge in the Middle District of Florida.
Some of the most memorable moments of my life occurred when those attorneys reunited, most recently in 2012 when the Jacksonville City Council and Jacksonville Bar Association honored their pioneering work. People think of lawyers as doing well, but Bill’s leadership created a law firm focused on doing good. Though most of the original firm partners eventually went on to other practices, they never lost the altruistic spirit Bill inspired. And, until the end, he kept doing good right in the same Washington Street office in Downtown Jacksonville where the work began.
As sad as so many people are about Bill’s passing, an old movie line reminds us that he’s not really gone — not as long as we remember him. That won’t be hard. Bill Sheppard was simply unforgettable: Passionately dedicated to protecting the Constitution and advancing civil rights; Brilliant in the courtroom; A larger-than-life personality and world class storyteller who elevated profanity to an art form; One of a kind.
Above all, Bill was someone who worked every day to fulfill that Florida Bar oath to champion the cause of the defenseless or oppressed. As his wife and law partner Betsy White posted on Facebook following his death, Bill “was a man who was willing to give everything he had to the people and causes he loved.” And as his former law partner Hugh Carithers told the Tributary, “he was the conscience of Jacksonville.”
There are many people grieving this difficult loss, and now is a time to offer condolences to Betsy, Bill’s children and family, and his past and present legal colleagues — both those who worked with him, as well as those who were on opposite sides of cases, because to see Bill fighting injustice was to respect him and learn from him.
But sympathies should also be directed to the Florida and United States Constitutions, the Bill of Rights, and our system of justice. In the passing of attorney Bill Sheppard, they have all lost one of their best friends.
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Chris Hand is a government law attorney who served as Chief of Staff at the City of Jacksonville from 2011–2015. He previously co-authored America, the Owner’s Manual: You Can Fight City Hall — and Win and authored the 50th anniversary update to A Quiet Revolution: The Consolidation of Jacksonville-Duval County & the Dynamics of Urban Political Reform.
Note: An audio version of this column appeared on WJCT First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross on Thursday, April 14, 2022.
