Navigation Amid Watergate, Justice Ben Overton reflected on courts, citizenship, and youth
As The Florida Bar marks its 75th year, The Florida Bar News is revisiting the moments, ideas, and leadership that helped shape today’s integrated Bar — particularly during periods when public confidence in institutions was being tested.
One such moment came amid the Watergate scandal. On October 21, 1973 — the day after the “Saturday Night Massacre” — then–American Bar Association President Chesterfield Smith, a former president of The Florida Bar, called for an independent investigation of President Richard Nixon. Declaring that “no man is above the law,” Smith urged the appointment of a special prosecutor to examine the president’s actions, a stance that underscored the legal profession’s role in defending the rule of law during a time of national turmoil.
Months later, in June 1974, with Watergate still unfolding and public trust in government shaken, Florida Supreme Court Justice Ben F. Overton wrote a Law Day column for The Florida Bar Journal reflecting on the courts, citizenship, and the importance of educating young people about the law. Nixon would resign from the presidency just weeks later, on August 9, 1974.
