Susan Sims Harrell Black (born October 20, 1943) is an American lawyer who serves as a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She was a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. She was the first female federal court judge in Florida.
Susan Harrell Black
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
Chief Judge — U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
Born 1943 in Valdosta, GA
FJC ID: 184
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 7/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 202/year
Florida Middle District Court · 1979–1992Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals · 1992–2011
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
- Female
- Race
- White
Prior employment
Board member · 2008–2012- Circuit Court of Florida, Fourth Judicial CircuitJudge · 1975–1979
- Duval County [Florida] CourtJudge · 1973–1975
- Jacksonville, FloridaAssistant general counsel · 1972–1973
- Jacksonville, FloridaAssistant state's attorney · 1969–1972
U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville, FloridaAttorney · 1968–1969- Jacksonville, FloridaHigh school teacher · 1967–1968
Appointments
1992–2011 · Appointed by George H.W. Bush (Republican)
1979–1992 · Appointed by Jimmy Carter (Democratic)Term ended: Appointment to Another Judicial Position
Education
LL.M. · 1984- University of Florida College of Law (now Fredric G. Levin College of Law)J.D. · 1967
- Florida State UniversityB.A. · 1964