Charlene Honeywell

Charlene Vanessa Edwards-Honeywell (born November 19, 1957) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Charlene Honeywell
Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
Incumbent
Assumed office November 12, 2009
Appointed by	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Susan C. Bucklew
Personal details
Born	November 19, 1957 Deerfield Beach, Florida
Education	Howard University (B.A.) Fredric G. Levin College of Law (J.D.)

Early life and education

Born in Deerfield Beach, Florida, Honeywell graduated from Pompano Beach High School in 1975.[1] She then graduated from Howard University in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science.[1] Honeywell earned a Juris Doctor in December 1981 from the Fredric G. Levin College of Law at the University of Florida.[2]

Professional career

From 1982 until 1985, Honeywell served in the Tallahassee, Florida public defender's office, and then spent two years as an assistant public defender in the Tampa public defender's office.[2] From November 1987 until June 1994, Honeywell served as an assistant city attorney for the City of Tampa and then spent six years at the Tampa law firm of Hill, Ward & Henderson, where she was a senior associate from 1995 until 1997 and then a partner from 1997 until December 2000.

State judicial service

In 1994, Florida Governor Lawton Chiles appointed Honeywell to be county court judge in Florida's Thirteenth Judicial Circuit.[3][4] She served from July 1, 1994 until December 31, 1994, but narrowly lost a bid for reelection in the fall of 1994 to attorney Frank Gomez.[3]

In 1999, Honeywell applied for an opening on the Florida Circuit Courts, inspired in part by the appointment of Peggy Quince as the first African American female justice on the Florida Supreme Court.[3][4] In 2000, Florida Governor Jeb Bush appointed Honeywell to a judicial post on the Thirteenth Circuit, which she held from January 2001 until becoming a federal judge in 2009.[2]

Federal judicial service

On June 25, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Honeywell to fill the seat vacated by Susan C. Bucklew on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.[2] The United States Senate confirmed Honeywell's nomination in an 88–0 vote on November 9, 2009.[5] Honeywell began active service on November 12, 2009. She currently sits on the Tampa station of the court.

References

1. Phyllis J. Neuberger, Home town girl, Judge Charlene Honeywell, gets Obama nomination to Florida Federal Court, The Pompano Pelican.
2. President Obama Nominates Charlene Honeywell and Jeffrey Viken to Serve on the Federal District Court Bench Archived 2009-10-17 at the Wayback Machine, whitehouse.gov (June 25, 2009).
3. David Karp, Defeat became blessing for judge, St. Petersburg Times (February 11, 2002).
4. Nicole Hutcheson, Former Hillsborough Circuit Judge Charlene Honeywell is sworn in as U.S. district judge Archived 2011-06-07 at the Wayback Machine, St. Petersburg Times (January 30, 2010).
5. U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes – Nomination of Charlene Edwards Honeywell, senate.gov (November 9, 2009).

External links

• Charlene Honeywell at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Charlene Honeywell at Ballotpedia