Joseph Woodrow Hatchett (September 17, 1932 – April 30, 2021) was an American lawyer and judge. He worked in private practice, was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Eleventh Circuit, and served on the Florida Supreme Court.
Joseph Woodrow Hatchett
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
Chief Judge — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Born 1932 in Clearwater, FL
Died 2021 in Tallahassee, FL
FJC ID: 999
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 18/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 368/year
Supreme Court of Florida · 1975–1979Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals · 1979–1981Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals · 1981–1999
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- African American
Prior employment
- Judicial Conference of the United StatesMember · 1997–1999
U.S. Marine Corps Reserve lieutenant colonel and judge advocate1977–1988- Florida Supreme CourtJustice · 1975–1979
Middle District of FloridaAssistant U.S. attorney · 1966–1971- ↳first assistant U.S. attorney · 1967–1971
- U.S. Department of JusticeSpecial hearing office for conscientious objectors · 1967–1968
- Private practice, Daytona Beach, Florida1959–1966
- NAACP Legal Defense FundCooperating attorney · 1960–1966
- Daytona Beach [Florida] Urban Renewal DepartmentConsultant · 1963–1966
U.S. Army lieutenant1954–1956
Appointments
1981–1999 (None (reassignment))Term ended: Retirement
1979–1981 · Appointed by Jimmy Carter (Democratic)Term ended: Reassignment
Education
- Florida Agricultural and Mechanical Universityba
J.D. · 1959- Florida A&M UniversityB.A. · 1954