Former Florida Supreme Court Justice Ben F. Overton has been awarded the 1984 Medal of Honor Award.
From the beginning of his legal career in 1952, Ben F. Overton has exemplified the highest ideals of the legal profession. Active in The Florida Bar’s continuing legal education committee for more than ten years, author of curriculum, faculty member and director of the National Judicial College, first chairman of The Florida Institute for the Judiciary, chairman of the Florida Court Educational Council and the special judiciary committee of the Conference of Chief Justices, he has worked diligently in the cause of continuing legal and judicial education.
Mindful that improving the administration of justice is not a task for the short-winded, his many contributions over the years to this field include chairing the 1978 Florida Appellate Structure Commission, the Florida Supreme Court Article V Review Commission and the Florida Matrimonial Law Commission in 1983 and 1984, and ABA subcommittees and task forces on Standards for Enforcement of Judicial Discipline and Competency to Stand Trial. His talents and energies have led to substantial improvements in the procedure and administration for all levels of courts, trial and appellate. A circuit judge, then chief judge, justice and chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court, he has served the public and the profession well as a respected member of the judiciary. His countless hours of service to judicial improvement groups have led toward the goal of a judicial system that responds to the needs of the citizens it serves.
