B. K. Roberts

Bonnie Kaslow Roberts (February 5, 1907 – August 4, 1999) was a justice of the Florida Supreme Court from 1949 to 1976.

Early life, education, and career Roberts was born in Sopchoppy, Florida, in 1907. He grew up in poverty and attended Wakulla County schools, becoming a licensed schoolteacher at age 13. Roberts attended the University of Florida and worked on bridges to pay for his schooling. He lived in an attic without heat, and in 1923 a student committee declared that he was "not college material, and his poor clothing was embarrassing to the class." Nonetheless, Roberts befriended Fuller Warren and also made the acquaintance of prominent businessman Edward Ball. After graduating in 1928, Roberts established his legal practice in Tallahassee, Florida. In 1948, Roberts campaigned for Fuller Warren in his successful gubernatorial bid.

Judicial service After Justice Paul D. Barns resigned from the Florida Supreme Court in 1949, Governor Warren appointed Roberts to the position, and he came to the bench on September 1. On March 14, 1953, Roberts began his first term as Chief Justice, serving until January 11, 1955. He served his second term as chief justice from July 1, 1961, to July 1, 1963.

In 1965, Roberts helped establish the law school at Florida State University, and the main hall was named in his honor. He helped start the District Court of Appeal system and served on state constitutional revision commissions in 1968 and 1972.

In subsequent years the bill never made it back to the Senate floor and a companion bill never got out of committee in the House nor did a companion bill ever got out of a House committee in 2019. At his First Baptist Church memorial service former Florida governor Reubin Askew, Democrat 1971 -1979, gave the eulogy and praised B. K. Roberts and his life of civic accomplishment, Florida Bar News Front Page September 1, 1999. Similarly though while governor, Askew was the keynote speaker at the November 19, 1974 naming ceremony for Florida State University College of Law's B.K. Roberts Hall, FSU Flambeau Newspaper, November 19–20, 1974.