Faculty Call For Removing Name Of Segregationist Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice From Florida State Law School Building

Following up on my previous posts (Links below):  Tallahassee Democrat op-ed:  'Reflect Our Shared Values' and Rename Building, by 52 Florida State law faculty:

As members of the faculty and administration at the Florida State University College of Law, we write to call on the Florida House of Representatives to complete the legislative work that will allow us to rename the law school building.

As you are aware, the Florida Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill in 2019 that would have allowed B.K. Roberts’ name to be removed from the law school building, but the House did not take up the legislation. In 2020, a Senate committee again approved a measure to allow the renaming of the law school, but Florida lawmakers did not complete the process. It is time to act decisively.

It is shameful that our main building continues to bear the name of B.K. Roberts. Roberts persistently resisted the racial integration of Florida’s public law schools, and it is deeply painful and offensive that most of our faculty offices and classrooms are in a building that carries his name. ...

The building was not named for Roberts because he favored segregation. The naming of the building was meant to honor his role in chairing a committee that helped to found the College of Law.

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• Senate President Outlines Path To Rename Florida State Law School To Distance Itself From Segregationist Past (Dec. 11, 2018)
• Senate Committee Approves Bill Authorizing Florida State To Remove Name Of Avowed Segregationist From Main Law School Building (Mar. 13, 2019)