by Glenn Tschimpke
Staff Writer
When construction on the new U.S. Courthouse concludes in September, it promises to have all the technical and ergonomic trappings of a first class building. All it needs is a name, which is where Clyde Collins comes in.
Collins, a local attorney and Duval County Democratic chair, has launched a small initiative to name the courthouse after the late Judge Bryan Simpson. The timing would be appropriate — Simpson would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year. But what Collins really wants to preserve is Simpson’s legacy.
“Certainly, Judge Simpson and his family have a history as civic leaders in Florida,” said Collins. “The life he lived has created lessons for the future.”
The lessons Judge Simpson forged came during North Florida’s racially segregated 1960s. As Leon Friedman wrote in Southern Justice, “There is no more important figure in the civil rights movement than a Federal district court judge.” Simpson lived the part.
Appointed to the U.S. District Court in 1950 by President Harry Truman, Simpson, made national headlines in the mid-1960s with his colorblind, decisions regarding civil rights issues in St. Augustine. Simpson put an end to favoritism of whites in his courtroom and strived to uphold the U.S. Constitution as it uniformly applies to all citizens. Blacks applauded his courage and professionalism at a time when the Ku Klux Klan enjoyed a great amount of latitude in its demonstrations. Hard line segregationists fumed at his stance. St. Johns County Sheriff L.O. Davis cried for the judge’s impeachment after losing several court battles over his questionable law enforcement tactics. U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond labeled one of his orders regarding the sheriff’s office the beginning of a federal “judicial dictatorship.”
Still, Simpson’s attitude reigned. Although it has been over 30 years since Simpson’s landmark decisions and 10 years since his death, his courtroom ethic and professionalism still echo in the minds of many local attorneys.
“Many of his friends condemned him. They thought he was off his rocker for his forward-thinking civil rights attitude. They didn’t want anything to change,” said former Circuit Court Judge William Maness, who still gets emotional when remembering Simpson’s struggles. “He was just a great, great man. He just took a lot of heat professionally.”
“He was one of the finest,” added Edward Booth Sr. “Judge Simpson was a federal judge when my feet hit the street out of law school in 1953. He was a judge that ensured legal proceedings were conducted in an atmosphere of decorum.”
Booth commended Simpson for “sticking to his guns” on his civil rights opinions.
Collins, who was Simpson’s law clerk in the early 1980s made his movement official last October in a letter to U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown advocating the courthouse name. So far, response has been scant, although Brown remains noncommittal.
“We’re still reviewing it,” said Brown. “A couple other people’s names were brought up and we turned them in to do the research on them. I really haven’t focused in on it.”