LAKELAND — Former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice R. Fred Lewis died on Tuesday at age 78 in Lakeland. His family said he sustained a fall last week that broke his spine, an injury from which he was unable to recover.
Lewis was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by then-Gov. Lawton Chiles in 1998 and served as chief justice from 2006 to 2008. He retired from the court in 2019 and began teaching at Florida Southern College, where he had been an undergraduate. There, he oversaw the Justice Teaching initiative, a civic education program for schoolchildren.
During his judicial tenure, Lewis convened the first commission to improve the treatment of people with mental illness in Florida’s court system. Miami-Dade County Judge Steven Leifman, whom Lewis asked to lead the commission in 2007, said, “He was one of the first jurists who recognized that the criminal system had become the mental health and substance abuse system in America.” After three years of study, the commission issued recommendations that reshaped court practices. Leifman said, “Many of those things became a model for the country.”
Lewis also assembled a task force that surveyed courthouses statewide to identify barriers to access for people with disabilities. In 2003, he arranged for an exhibition of photographs by abused and neglected children in foster care to be displayed in the Supreme Court rotunda, with some of the youths flown to Tallahassee to view their work.
Retired Justice Harry Lee Anstead, a longtime friend of Lewis, recalled that when Lewis became chief justice in 2006, he hung a sign at the court’s entrance reading, roughly, “Tell us how we can move the cause of justice forward through the issues in your case.” Anstead said, “Every lawyer present for oral arguments that day couldn’t avoid reading that sign.” He added that Lewis was remarkable “for his character and passion for justice” and noted they were close “on and off the court,” including on the tennis court. Anstead said, “Great leaders know only one way to lead, and that’s by example. Without that, nobody would have the credibility to preach about high standards and justice.”
Lewis will lie in state in the Florida Supreme Court rotunda from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 11. Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz will deliver remarks as members of the court ceremonially receive his body.