Craig Waters (born in 1956) is a former

public information officer A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

who served as communications director for the

Florida Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Florida is the state supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven justices—one of whom serves as Chief Justice. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geog ...

in Tallahassee from June 1, 1996, to February 28, 2022. In 1994, then-Chief Justice Gerald Kogan appointed Waters as a staff attorney and established the court’s Office of Public Information. Waters worked in areas related to government transparency and

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 ...

rights during his tenure as a lawyer and government official. He also served as the Court’s spokesperson during the 2000 presidential election, publicly announcing the Court’s rulings regarding the Florida vote.

Education and early life

Before college, Waters attended public school in Pensacola, graduating from J. M. Tate High School. Waters attended

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

as an undergraduate, receiving his degree with honors in 1979. Before law school, he worked for four years as a journalist with the

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as several ...

newspapers in

Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...

and Tallahassee. 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 ...

with honors from the University of Florida College of Law (now the Levin College of Law) in 1986.

Non-legal work

Waters founded the Florida Court Public Information Officers Inc. (FCPIO), a federally recognized non-profit organized for educational purposes. FCPIO serves as a network of Florida's court PIOs with members in all 27 subdivisions of the state courts system, with regular meetings around Florida.

Career at the Florida Supreme Court

Thomas D. “Tom” Waters served the Florida Supreme Court for 35 years, beginning in 1987 as a law clerk for Justice Rosemary Barkett. and later advising Justice Gerald Kogan, who brought him into court administration upon becoming Chief Justice in 1996. Waters was instrumental in modernizing the court’s public communications, helping launch its first website in the early 1990s and leading efforts in 1994 to post documents from high-profile cases online for immediate public access. In 1997, in partnership with Florida State University, he launched ''Gavel to Gavel'', the first program to broadcast all court arguments live via television, satellite, and the web—a model widely imitated by other courts. His background as a Florida journalist and his experience as an openly gay man shaped his approach to transparency and public engagement. In the early 2000s, he positioned the Florida Supreme Court as a national leader in using emerging social media platforms, and in 2015 began implementing a statewide communications plan built around local Public Information Officers and new technologies. He retired in 2022. Florida Supreme Court Building 2011

2000 Election

For more than a month following the November 7, 2000, election, Florida's vote for the presidency remained undecided and too close to call, with the outcome hinging on legal decisions from the Florida Supreme Court that were announced by Waters on live worldwide television. The first decision occurred on November 21, 2000, when Waters announced a court ruling extending the vote-counting deadline previously set by Florida Secretary of State

Katherine Harris Katherine Harris (born April 5, 1957) is an American politician from Florida. A Republican, she served in the Florida Senate from 1994 to 1998, as Secretary of State of Florida from 1999 to 2002, and as a member of the United States House of Re ...

. The second was on December 8, 2000, when Waters announced a decision requiring a statewide recount of ballots. The

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

overruled this last decision on December 12, 2000, in an opinion that effectively handed the presidency to

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 ...

.Journal of Appellate Practice & Process, Technological Transparency, Fall 2007
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Election 2000 in reality and film

File:Craig Waters Briefing Reporters During the 2000 Election Appeals.jpg, Waters talks with reporters before oral arguments, December 7, 2000 File:Alex Staggs Portraying Craig Waters 2007.jpg, Photo of actor Alex Staggs taken during filming on location for HBO movie ''Recount'', November 3, 2007, on the front steps of the Florida Supreme Court Building in Tallahassee, Florida. File: Actual Arguments Before the Florida Supreme Court 7 December 2000.jpg, The actual Florida Supreme Court listens to December 7, 2000, arguments File: HBO Reinactment of Arguments Before the Florida Supreme Court 7 December 2000.jpg , HBO reenacts the December 7 argument during filming on November 4, 2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Craig 1956 births Living people Brown University alumni People from Tallahassee, Florida People from Pensacola, Florida Florida lawyers Pensacola Junior College alumni Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni American LGBTQ lawyers