James E.C. Perry served as the eighty-fifth justice of the Supreme Court of Florida. He came to that bench from New Bern, North Carolina, by way of an HBCU, the United States Army, Columbia Law School, and three decades of practice in Florida.
New Bern
He was born in 1944 in New Bern, North Carolina, and grew up in the segregated South. He was the first person in his family to finish college, graduating from St. Augustine’s College in 1966 with a degree in business administration and accounting.
The Army, then Columbia
Between his undergraduate degree and law school he served as a first lieutenant in the United States Army. He then earned his law degree at Columbia Law School, graduating in 1972.
That same year, before he had practised a day, he filed a federal lawsuit against the Georgia Board of Bar Examiners over discriminatory practices in the bar examination.
Practice in Florida
He built a career in civil and business law in Florida, ultimately as a partner at Perry & Hicks, P.A. Outside the office he founded and presided over the Jackie Robinson Sports Association, which grew into the largest baseball league in the nation serving at-risk youth.
The bench
In March 2000, Governor Jeb Bush appointed him a circuit judge for Florida’s Eighteenth Judicial Circuit — the first African American appointed to that circuit. He served as its chief judge from July 2003 to 2005.
On 11 March 2009 he joined the Supreme Court of Florida, appointed by Governor Charlie Crist to the seat vacated by Charles T. Wells. He was the eighty-fifth justice to serve on that court since Florida became a state in 1845. He sat until 30 December 2016, when he reached the mandatory retirement age.
Recognition
He has received multiple NAACP awards and honorary Doctor of Law degrees from Stetson University and Nova Southeastern University. In 2024, Seminole County dedicated the James E. C. Perry Courthouse Annex in his name.