John Richard Smoak Jr. (May 11, 1943 – May 2, 2022) was a
United States district judge
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...
of the
.
Biography
Smoak was born in 1943, in
Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee ...
. He received his
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
from the
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
in 1965 and served in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
from 1965 to 1970. He received his
Juris Doctor
A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
from the
University of Florida College of Law
The University of Florida Levin College of Law (UF Law) is the law school of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest operating public law school in Florida and second oldest overall in the stat ...
in 1972. He was in
private practice in
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
from 1973 to 2005.
Federal judicial service
Smoak was nominated to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida by President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
on June 8, 2005, to the seat vacated by
C. Roger Vinson. He was confirmed by the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
on October 27, 2005, and received his
commission
In-Commission or commissioning may refer to:
Business and contracting
* Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered
** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...
on November 3, 2005. He assumed
senior status on December 31, 2015. He died on May 2, 2022.
Rulings on free speech
In 2008 in
Gillman v. Holmes County School District Smoak ruled that students of public school have the right to wear
gay pride
In the context of LGBTQ culture, pride (also known as LGBTQ pride, LGBTQIA pride, LGBT pride, queer pride, gay pride, or gay and lesbian pride) is the promotion of the rights, self-affirmation, dignity, Social equality, equality, and increas ...
T-shirt
A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt, or tee for short) is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a '' crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shir ...
s and pins. This ruling came after a Florida principal suspended many students for wearing such items. Smoak also ordered the school to notify, in writing, all high school and middle school students that they possess this right.
In ''Brayshaw v. City of Tallahassee, Fla.'' Smoak struck down a Florida statute which made it a crime to ''"publish or disseminate the residence address or telephone number of any law enforcement officer while designating the officer as such..."'' Brayshaw had posted the name of a Tallahassee police officer, along with her home address, cell phone number and age on the page
RateMyCop.com, and also criticized the officer, stating that she was verbally abusive, rude and unprofessional. Brayshaw challenged the
constitutionality
In constitutional law, constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applic ...
of the Florida statute, claiming a right to
free speech
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...
under the
First Amendment
First most commonly refers to:
* First, the ordinal form of the number 1
First or 1st may also refer to:
Acronyms
* Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array
* Far Infrared a ...
. On April 30, 2010, Judge Smoak struck down the 1972 Florida law, finding that the statute was "unconstitutional on its face".
Reassignment of cases
On May 29, 2015, all of Smoak's cases were reassigned to other judges by an administrative order issued by Chief Judge
M. Casey Rodgers.
References
External links
John Smoak memorial fund at UF*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smoak, John Richard Jr.
1943 births
2022 deaths
20th-century American lawyers
21st-century American lawyers
Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni
Florida lawyers
Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida
People from Columbus, Georgia
United States Army soldiers
United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush
United States Military Academy alumni