Alto Lee Adams Sr. (January 31, 1899 – February 20, 1988) was an American judge. He was a justice for the

Florida Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Florida is the highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven members: the chief justice and six justices. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geographic diversity, and one ...

between 1940 and 1951. From 1949 to 1951 Adams served as chief justice.

Biography

Born and reared in

Walton County, Florida Walton County is located on the Emerald Coast in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida, with its southern border on the Gulf of Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 75,305. Its county seat is DeFuniak Springs. The co ...

, near

DeFuniak Springs DeFuniak Springs is a city in Walton County, Florida, United States. The population was 6,968 as of the 2020 Census. The county seat of Walton County, the city also serves as a hub for many residents in surrounding communities. In 2019, MSN's ''I ...

,Joseph A. Boyd Jr., Randall Reder,
A History of the Florida Supreme Court
, ''University of Miami Law Review'' (1981), p. 1053. Adams graduated from the University of Florida College of Law in 1921. While at the University of Florida, he was member of

Alpha Phi Epsilon Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , which ...

and

Florida Blue Key Florida Blue Key is a student leadership honor society at the University of Florida which was founded in 1923. History Founding and early years "Florida Blue Key was founded on November 1, 1923, several days prior to the University's Homecom ...

. He also was named a Designated Distinguished Alumnus in 1974. After gaining

admission to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

, Adams "moved to Ft. Pierce to practice law". In 1936, he campaigned for the election of

Fred P. Cone Frederick Preston Cone (September 28, 1871 – July 28, 1948) was an American politician who served as the List of Governors of Florida, 27th Governor of Florida. Early life Frederick Preston Cone was born in the Benton community of northern Col ...

as Governor of Florida, "and was rewarded for his support by an appointment to the circuit bench in 1938 and to the supreme court in 1940". In 1940, the

Florida Constitution The Constitution of the State of Florida is the document that establishes and describes the powers, duties, structure, and function of the government of the U.S. state of Florida, and establishes the basic law of the state. The current Constitu ...

was amended to add a seventh Justice to the Florida Supreme Court, the seat to which Governor Cone appointed Adams. Adams served on the court until 1951, when he resigned to undertake an unsuccessful campaign for governor. In 1967, Governor

Claude R. Kirk Claude Roy Kirk Jr. (January 7, 1926 – September 28, 2011) was the 36th governor of the U.S. state of Florida (1967–1971). He was the first Republican governor of Florida since Reconstruction. Early life Kirk was born in San Bernardino, ...

appointed Adams as an interim justice to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of

Stephen C. O'Connell Stephen Cornelius O'Connell (January 22, 1916 – April 13, 2001) was an American attorney, appellate judge and university president. O'Connell was a native of Florida, and earned bachelor's and law degrees before becoming a practicing attorne ...

. Kirk had initially attempted to appoint Wade L. Hopping, but Hopping was declared ineligible, not having been a member of the Florida Bar for the requisite ten-year period. Adams served until Hopping met the eligibility requirements in late 1968.Joseph A. Boyd Jr., Randall Reder,
A History of the Florida Supreme Court
, ''University of Miami Law Review'' (1981), p. 1062.

References

External links

Justice Adams info
1899 births Justices of the Florida Supreme Court 1988 deaths 20th-century American judges Chief Justices of the Florida Supreme Court People from Walton County, Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni {{Florida-state-judge-stub