Harold Sebring
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| Harold Sebring | |
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Judge at the Nuremberg Trials
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| In office 1946 – 1947 |
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Chief Justice for the
Florida Supreme Court |
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| In office 1951 – 1953 |
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| Born | 1898 |
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| Died | July 26, 1968 |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Harold L. "Tom" Sebring (1898-July 26, 1968[1]) was a Florida Supreme Court judge, a judge at the Nuremberg Trials and, while in law school, the head coach of the Florida Gators football team.
Born in Olathe, Kansas, Sebring spent 22 months fighting in World War I. He was honorably discharged in 1919 with military decorations from both the U.S. and French governments.[2] Upon returning, Sebring studied architecture, engineering and business administration at Kansas State College.[2] He also excelled in football, track and boxing and was named to the All Missouri Valley Conference in 1921 and 1922 and the Kansas State Aggies All-Time Football Team.[3] Sebring received a B.S. from Kansas State in 1923.[3]
Sebring was the University of Florida coach in football, track and boxing while attending the University's law school. In 1925, his Gators football team finished with an 8-2 record, the best in school history at the time.[3] Florida went 7-3 in 1927, Sebring's last season, and the team he recruited for 1928 finished 8-1 and led the nation in scoring.[2] Sebring received a J.D. in 1928.[3]
After receiving his law degree, Sebring practiced law in Miami and Jacksonville.[3] He was appointed judge for the eighth circuit court district from 1933 to 1943 and served on the Florida Supreme Court from 1943 to 1955.[3] After World War II, President Harry Truman appointed Sebring to sit on the bench for the Nuremberg Trials. Sebring did not want to leave the Florida Supreme Court so he was granted a leave of absence.[2] While in Nuremberg in 1946 and 1947, Sebring was a judge on the Doctors' Trial, one of the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials. Back in Florida, he was elected Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1951 to 1953.[3]
On September 1, 1955, Sebring retired from the Florida Supreme Court and was named the dean of Stetson University College of Law, the first dean since the campus moved to Gulfport, Florida.[1][3] Sebring's retirement from Stetson was planned for September 1, 1968 but he died five weeks earlier. On November 12, 1976, Stetson named a courtroom in his memory.
Sebring was an honorary Florida Blue Key member. He was married to Elise Bishop and had one child, son Harold Jr.[3] Sebring's grandson, Harold III, leads a Tampa law firm, Sebring Law.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Stetson Law ReviewPDF (185 KiB) Vol. XVI pp. 322-341 (PDF pp. 28-47).
- ^ a b c d Justice Harold Sebring from the Florida Supreme Court web site.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Harold "Tom" L. Sebring from the Heritage of Leadership Recognition Society web site from the Levin College of Law.
- ^ Sebring Law Firm.
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