Judge Susan Harrell Black sits on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
She was born in 1943 in Valdosta, Ga., and her military family lived around the world. Her father served in World War II.
After graduating from law school at the University of Florida, she taught high school from 1967-68 in Jacksonville and then started her career as an attorney for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Jacksonville, later serving as an assistant state attorney and an assistant City general counsel.
Black was elected to serve on the bench of the 4th Judicial Circuit as a Duval County judge from 1973-75 and then as a Circuit judge from 1975-79.
President Jimmy Carter nominated Black to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in 1979 and the Senate confirmed her. She served as chief judge from 1990-92.
She received a postgraduate master of laws degree in 1984 from the University of Virginia School of Law.
In 1992, President George H.W. Bush nominated her to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. After Senate confirmation, she began serving in September 1992, taking senior status in 2011.
Her June 4, 1992, confirmation hearing at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee included three other nominees, including Sonia Sotomayor. Four years ago, Sotomayor was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has jurisdiction over federal cases originating in Florida, Georgia and Alabama. It includes nine district courts with each state divided into Northern, Middle and Southern Districts.
In terms of cases filed and terminated by three-judge panels, the court is considered the busiest federal appellate court in the U.S. with its 12 authorized judgeships, according to the court's website, ca11.uscourts.gov.
About three-fourths of the court's cases are decided on the briefs submitted by the parties, while the remaining cases include oral argument.
Oral arguments are held in the Elbert P. Tuttle U.S. Court of Appeals Building in Atlanta and are open to the building.
Oral arguments also are held in Jacksonville, Miami and Montgomery, Ala.
The Daily Record interviewed Black for "First Coast Success," a regular segment on the award-winning 89.9 FM flagship First Coast Connect program, hosted by Melissa Ross. The interview took place at the station at 100 Festival Park Ave. along the St. Johns River near EverBank Field.
The interview is scheduled for broadcast this morning and the replay will be at 8 p.m. on the WJCT Arts Channel or online at www.wjctondemand.org.
Following are edited excerpts from the full transcript.
You are a pioneer for women in the judiciary. What has been your experience?
There have been quite a few men who have helped me get where I am. At the time, you couldn't look to women because there weren't women in the roles that I held and I had some great mentors and they all were men.
Young lawyers and younger members of the judiciary seek you out as a mentor. What is the role of a mentor?
First you listen, and you try to determine if they understand what they want and where they are going. Then you just talk with them. Often, you see someone you can introduce them to, you see something you can tell them that might be helpful. The most difficult time is when you see that they are headed down a path that is probably not right for them. Fortunately that doesn't happen often but when it does, it is difficult because I try to be honest.
What is the response?
Appreciation. Sometimes they do not follow through with my suggestions, sometimes they do. Sometimes the best things happen and there is a shift and a middle ground is reached and they go on. I have never had anyone not appreciate what I have told them, even if they don't agree with it.
Were you a member of a large family?
Three children and I was the oldest. (Brother Bill Harrell is the founder and senior partner of the Harrell & Harrell personal injury firm in Jacksonville).
Like most first children, I think I was a little bossy. I was given their care and feeding and tending and sometimes it went to my head. We moved around a lot, so I was given responsibility.
What brought you to Jacksonville?
My family was from North Florida. Mother was from Lake City and my father was from Live Oak. He was born in Mayo, Florida, and so it seemed natural, of all the places, to go to Jacksonville. I had an aunt and uncle here and some cousins and I felt comfortable.
As you were growing up, what did you envision your life to be?
I was about 13 when I decided I wanted to be a lawyer. Now I'm not sure I knew what a lawyer was or did, but I decided I wanted to do that. One other time, when I was 15, I had a science fair project and was interested in dentistry, so from age 13 to entering law school, I spent one year thinking I wanted to be a dentist.
What was the deciding factor to become a lawyer rather than a dentist?
My passions. I loved to read, I loved history, I liked speaking, debating and writing. It all led to an obvious choice.
I did not like organic chemistry.
What has been your biggest challenge?
I'll go back to moving. My biggest challenge was going into a strange place knowing no one, where everyone else had already formed into groups, everyone else had a history, and they had a history together. Becoming part of a group and being accepted, and accepting where I was and what I was doing, I think that was my biggest challenge.
It was the best thing that ever happened to me because I am not afraid of moving or meeting new people. It made me very comfortable in a strange environment, which was not my natural way of being.
What is your biggest satisfaction?
It sounds trite, but it's contributing, being a part of this community, being a part of the judiciary.
You are really fortunate when you have a profession that permits you to do the right thing and there are not many people who have a profession that is challenging, interesting and the goal is to do the right thing.
I don't mean the right thing in the sense of what I perceive is right, but with guidelines, the rule of law, to be a part of history and a part of the future.
You have worked with and among some very influential and well-respected members of the judiciary. Talk about that.
I'll talk about my colleagues, not personally but professionally. They are all smart. They are all where they are because of certain gifts and opportunities. It's stimulating and challenging. There is never a dull day.
Can you talk about any of your most memorable cases or situations on the bench?
It's interesting because I have been asked that question and I have had reporters who've said, well what about this case or that case.
What they find interesting and what the public finds interesting sometimes is not what I find interesting. Usually I'm asked about cases that have received some public notoriety. I tried the first spy case in Jacksonville and it was the first in the nation to use new guidelines set out by the chief justice of the Supreme Court and the attorney general, which is the executive branch and the judicial branch working together to determine how these cases should be tried.
It was interesting to the public because you had spies, you had people with secret drops, you had people who were very high up in the military and who were testifying.
To me it was interesting because I was trying to determine how the FBI was going to work with me and still work within their system and how it was supposed to be implemented.
It was one of the many cases where dealing with the press was positive and negative. Fortunately, in the end, it was more positive than negative.
How is it dealing with the media? As a member of the judiciary there are many things that you just cannot discuss.
Most of the media understands that. There's no harm in asking, but most understand it and don't expect you to answer questions that they know you shouldn't answer.
I know that in the past maybe 10-15 years there has been a change in the public's perception of the courtroom because of courtroom television. Do you have any observations?
If you were speaking to a doctor, probably the physician would say the same thing. Everything happens, what with commercials, in 54 minutes or something like that. If it is a criminal case, you have the crime, you have the investigation, you have the trial, you have the jury going out and you get a verdict.
When jurors are involved, I saw some of this as a district judge before I came on the Court of Appeals. I think they were shocked because it was so dull, that it took so long and they expected it to go fast and to proceed rapidly, and it doesn't.
It is seldom like the old Perry Mason (television series). I never had anyone stand up in the courtroom and say, 'I did it.'
I think jurors are more sophisticated than that now. They know that's not going to happen.
Even at a trial that has a great deal of notoriety and even assuming cameras in the courtroom, there is very little time that is really interesting to the public. That is unfortunate because sometimes when you get the short answer to the question, without it placed in context, it is not understood correctly.
What is your role on the appellate court?
I read and I read and I read and I read.
You have some law clerks, but you never see lawyers like you used to see lawyers. You see your colleagues. Maybe that is why I get so excited seeing them. I get to see someone to talk to about the case.
From the outside looking in, it would appear to be lonely and isolated. It's not. It's interesting, it's fascinating and sometimes you do find that nugget and you do have that 'aha' moment. That's what it is about.
That might be why I enjoy the oral arguments so much and speaking to my colleagues, because it is my opportunity to talk to two other people who have read the same briefs, we have listened to the same argument and we can talk about the case. We talk about it with no one else around. No law clerks, no court staff, no marshals, just the three of us talk about it and that is stimulating.
What is your personal philosophy about life?
I have the time to reflect more and my personal philosophy has changed through the years. When I was younger, it was more dynamic. As I have gotten older, it is a different kind of dynamic. I am more interested in contemplating and thinking and analyzing slowly rather than rapidly, which is what you have to do on the trial bench and what you have to do when you have a great volume of cases. You just don't have the time to reflect at length. My philosophy now is to step back, think, reflect and try to keep the big picture in focus.
What advice would you have for a new lawyer?
I think a new lawyer needs to understand that like many professions, the legal profession has changed. Areas of the law that were once both very lucrative and very interesting are now not available or have changed and a young lawyer needs to determine what area of law he or she is interested in.
Hopefully before going to law school, the young lawyer has made a cost-benefit analysis in the decision whether to commit three years of their life and finances to the endeavor.
Then I would advise them to develop an area of specialty of expertise. It is very difficult to be a generalist.
Do you want to share any information about your family?
I have a husband and a daughter and a son-in-law and a dog.
My daughter was a business major in marketing and now she has taken over a travel agency her father had.
Lou, years ago, had Avondale Travel and he kept one small agency and she came to him several months ago and said she wanted to learn the business. I don't think she understands how much she already knows about the business just being around Lou. She is working in it and developing it and is working hard and I think she is having fun.
Do you see or talk with Justice Sotomayor?
Justice Sotomayor's mother lived in Miami so I would talk to her and see her on occasion through the years. I have only seen her in the Supreme Court twice since she went on the bench, but part of that is because I don't get there very often. She hasn't changed.
What else would you like to share?
I didn't want to discourage young people about going into law. I think back about what I have said and I think it sounded discouraging. I just believe they need to think about it and analyze it and not do it emotionally or romantically or because there is nothing else they can figure out to do at that time, because I think it is a noble profession.
It's been a wonderful life for me and many others, and it could be a wonderful life for others. We need young people who are committed to the law and committed to the community.
I would just want them to go into it realistically.
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