Lenore Carrero Nesbitt (July 19, 1932 – October 6, 2001) 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, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (in case citations, S.D. Fla. or S.D. Fl.) is the federal United States district court with territorial jurisdiction over the southern part of the state of Florida.. Appeal ...

Education and career

Nesbitt was born in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. She received an Associate of Arts degree from Stephens College in 1952. She received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in 1954. She received a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

from the

University of Miami School of Law The University of Miami School of Law (Miami Law or UM Law) is the law school of the University of Miami, a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. Founded in 1926, the University of Miami School of Law is the oldest law school i ...

in 1957. She was a

research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, a research institute or a privately held organization, for the purpose of assisting in academic or private research. Research assistants are not in ...

for the

Florida First District Court of Appeal The Florida First District Court of Appeal, also known as the First DCA, is headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida, the state capital. It is unique among the five Florida District Courts of Appeal in that, much like the U.S. Court of Appeals for th ...

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...

from 1957 to 1959. She was in private practice of law in Miami from 1960 to 1963. She was a special assistant state attorney general of the State of Florida from 1961 to 1963. She was a research assistant for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida in Dade County from 1963 to 1965. She returned to private practice in Miami from 1969 to 1975. She was a counsel for the Florida State Board of Medical Examiners from 1970 to 1971.

State Circuit Court

Nesbitt was a judge of the Circuit Court of Florida, Eleventh Judicial Circuit from 1975 to 1982. In Miami, she heard pre-trial motions in the cases of eight Miami Officers accused of the murder of

Arthur McDuffie The 1980 Miami riots were race riots that occurred in Miami, Florida, starting in earnest on May 18, 1980, following an all-White male jury acquitting four Dade County Public Safety Department officers in the death of Arthur McDuffie (December ...

and of its coverup. There, she dismissed the case against William Hanlon.McDuffie: The Case Behind Miami’s Riots
''Southern Changes'', Patrice Gaines-Carter, 1980. Retrieved June 13, 2022. and she moved the case to Tampa where the final three officers were found not guilty by jurors.

Federal judicial service

Nesbitt was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on October 31, 1983, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge C. Clyde Atkins. She was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on November 15, 1983, and received commission on November 16, 1983. She assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on July 19, 1998. Her service was terminated on October 6, 2001, due to her death from complications of brain cancer in Coral Gables, Florida.

Other service and honors

Nesbitt served on the University of Miami board of trustees. She was inducted into the Florida Women's Hall of Fame in 2001. The Lenore Carrero Nesbitt Public Service Scholarship was established at the University of Miami School of Law in her honor.

Personal

Her husband Joseph Nesbitt was a judge on the

Florida Third District Court of Appeal The Florida Third District Court of Appeal is headquartered in Miami, Florida. Its ten judges have jurisdiction over cases arising from Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties. History The Third District Court of Appeal (DCA) was one of the first three DC ...

References

Sources

External links

Profile
from the Florida Women's Hall of Fame {{DEFAULTSORT:Nesbitt, Lenore Carrero 1932 births 2001 deaths Stephens College alumni Northwestern University alumni University of Miami School of Law alumni Hispanic and Latino American judges Judges of the Florida District Courts of Appeal Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan 20th-century American judges 20th-century American women judges Hispanic and Latino American lawyers