Craig Waters

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Craig Waters

Spokesman for the Florida Supreme Court
In office June 1, 1996 – Present

Born	1956
Profession	Lawyer

Craig Waters (born 1956) has been the public information officer of the Florida Supreme Court since June 1, 1996. He is best known as the public spokesman for the Florida Supreme Court during the 2000 presidential election controversy, when he frequently appeared on worldwide newscasts announcing decisions of the Florida Supreme Court. He is portrayed in the HBO Movie "Recount" by the actor Alex Staggs. The film, which had a broadcast premiere of May 25, 2008, chronicled the events in Florida during the presidential election lawsuits and appeals.

A prolific writer and scholar, Waters' works include "Waters' Dictionary of Florida Law" published by London-based Butterworths, a three-volume treatise "AIDS and Florida Law" also published by Butterworths,and several dozen scholarly articles on various subjects generally related to civil rights, AIDS and disability law, court emergency preparedness,and the use of technology to improve court and media relations. He is coauthor of the only comprehensive scholarly article on Florida Supreme Court protocol and jurisdiction.

In the summer of 2008, Waters is scheduled to publish a detailed article in the Journal of Appellate Practice & Process on the techniques he used in coordinating media relations at the Florida Supreme Court during the 2000 election cases. The article is titled "Technological Transparency: Appellate Court & Media Relations after Bush v. Gore."

In 1997, Waters spearheaded a project that put all Florida Supreme Court arguments on live television, cable, satellite, and web broadcasts. He also was responsible for a pioneering effort to place all documents in high profile court cases on the Web for instant public access, which has been widely praised in the media. The media also credited Waters' work in 2000 with putting pressure on federal courts to provide the public greater technological access to their proceedings.

Waters has given many speeches on subjects he has studied, including a recent speech on web accessibility for persons with disabilities at the 10th international Court Technology Conference organized in 2007 by the National Center for State Courts. He previously spoke on the technology of disasters, dealing with court emergency preparedness following the September 11, 2001, terrorists attacks and the extensive hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005. Since 2000, Waters has given dozens of speeches nationwide on the media relations techniques he pioneered in the 1990s and how they were especially useful during the Bush v. Gore presidential election appeals, when he employed cutting edge technology to give people real-time access to documents and broadcasts on a worldwide basis. He is founding president of the Florida Court Public Information Officers, Inc., a federally recognized tax exempt organization.

Waters attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island as an undergraduate, receiving his degree in 1979. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida College of Law (now the Levin College of Law) in 1986 after working for four years as a journalist with the Gannett newspapers in Pensacola and Tallahassee. A native of Pensacola, Florida, he has been a member of The Florida Bar since 1987 and currently also is communications counsel to the Florida Supreme Court.