Former Circuit Court Judge James Smiley Parker, a once prominent presence in the DeSoto courthouse, died on May 23. He was 81 years old.
A calm presence on the bench with an extensive grasp of the legal system, Parker oversaw thousands of legal cases throughout the Twelfth Judicial Circuit including in Bradenton, Venice, Sarasota and DeSoto County. Parker was passionate about criminal law and conscientious about making sure the accused did not languish in jail, and as those who knew him noted, he respected the rule of law, and the role judges play in it.
Born in Arcadia on Jan. 27, 1944, to James Smiley Parker, Sr. and Nola Browning Parker, he was raised on the prairie of Parker Brothers Ranch by his mother, aunts and uncles following his father’s death when he was 3 years old.
Following in the footsteps of the men in his family, Parker attended the Georgia Military Academy in Atlanta. It was there he met his future wife of 62 years, Frances, the couple’s granddaughter and current Circuit Court Judge Danielle Brewer explained.
The two fell in love after Parker agreed to take Frances to a graduation weekend event after her brother, Parker’s roommate, asked Parker for a favor. The two married on June 4, 1962, moved back to Florida, and had two daughters, Cassandra and Lenora.
Parker graduated from the University of Florida in 1965 and the University of Florida Law School in 1968. Following his admittance to the Florida Bar in 1969, he held positions as an assistant state attorney and assistant public defender, before opening his defense practice.
It was during his time at the State Attorney’s Office in Bradenton in 1972 that Parker and current Senior Judge Lee Haworth first met. The two later worked as co-counsel on several cases, including capital murder cases.
“My first impression was that he was quiet, laconic, think a shorter Clint Eastwood,” Haworth wrote in an emailed response to the Herald-Tribune. “I soon learned this demeanor was not representative of his true personality.”
Haworth recalled how the two would swing by Uncle Cal’s, a watering hole on 12th Street, to enjoy social hour with friends. Haworth described Parker as a raconteur — reveling in stories of funny events that happened in court, as well as analyzing tactical mistakes he and others made in past cases.
In 1975, Parker was appointed by former Florida Gov. Reuben Askew to the DeSoto County Court bench, giving him the opportunity to move his family back to his hometown of Arcadia.
Parker’s humble beginnings played a huge role throughout his career and were a big part of his personality, with Haworth noting that Parker liked to chew, ride horses, hunt and collect shotguns.
“Jim was a cowboy judge, often seen in boots and Stetson, his normal attire, and it was not an affectation,” Haworth said.
He was known as being “absolutely unflappable, despite unusual provocation” in the courtroom, having a droll sense of humor and was uniformly respectful of litigants and attorneys, Haworth added.
Parker would hold the county judge position for 10 years, becoming a circuit court judge in 1985 through his retirement in 2015. During his 40 years on the bench, Parker traveled the circuit and oversaw criminal and civil cases, married many couples and was part of a lot of adoptions. For many years, Parker acted as the sole resident circuit judge in DeSoto County.
Kerry E. Mack, Esq. has been practicing law in the area for 43 years and had multiple cases in front of Parker. She described Parker as being a good judge of character.
The defense attorney chuckled as she recalled one of Parker’s famous sayings for when witnesses were sworn in — “Swear ‘em in and let the lyin’ begin” — and noted how it accurately portrayed how Parker could read people in his courtroom.
Mack also appreciated how devoted Parker was to his cases, and how he cared about the outcome of the justice system and the impact it had on those in his courtroom.
Beyond the courtroom, Parker was also very involved in the community and was dedicated to his family. He often doted on his daughters and grandchildren and bragged on them whenever Haworth and Parker got together.
Brewer said her grandparents would often be seen together around town, lunching and having dinner every night. Parker also knew the best bar-b-que joints in the area, Haworth noted; as chief judge, he would visit Parker in Arcadia from time to time.
“I think one could safely say he was not a salad guy and did his best to promote local cattle ranchers and their products,” Haworth said.
Parker was also involved with the Arcadia All-Florida Championship Rodeo, a non-profit organization and the oldest rodeo in Florida dating back to 1928, according to the organization’s website. Sometime during his time serving as president of the Arcadia Rodeo, Parker bought a $5 raffle ticket and ended up winning a Ford Mustang, Haworth said. Parker, true to his cowboy heart, traded it in for a Jeep.
He was a lifelong member of Trinity Arcadia Methodist Church and a member of the DeSoto Cattlemen’s Association and Florida Farm Bureau.
Over the course of their marriage, Frances was also very involved in Parker’s career. She often typed up Parker’s work on a typewriter since the judge preferred to write everything from his orders to legal research on legal pads in perfect cursive. Even when technology advanced to computers, Parker preferred to write everything out.
Haworth noted that Parker was often underestimated by lawyers who didn’t know him, usually those from Florida’s East coast, and were surprised by his sharp legal mind and his erudite grasp of the law.
And while he was sometimes required to render rulings that weren’t always popular in his small hometown — leaving his life exposed to public scrutiny and making it challenging for him to maintain an unobtrusive presence in public — he never yielded to public or political pressure, Haworth said. He resolutely ruled on the facts of the case and the law.
Following his retirement, Parker encouraged his granddaughter to apply for the DeSoto County judgeship, Brewer said, adding her career similarly followed that of her Grapa’s.
Brewer noted how her grandfather was really appreciative of the independence of the judiciary and the integrity of the rule of law. Whenever she would ask him about what he would do on a case she was overseeing, he was careful never to tell her what to do, rather opting to allow her to decide what she saw as the right answer.
“He was a staunch believer in the system and essentially what had been put together by our founding fathers,” Brewer said. “He believed in the judiciary and the rule of law and due process and everybody getting their day in court. And he believed in people being active in their case and being responsible for their decision, and he had integrity in that.”
Gabriela Szymanowska covers the criminal justice, courts and legal system for the Herald-Tribune. Reach out with a news tip to gszymanowska@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Former ‘cowboy’ Judge James Parker dies peacefully at 81 in beloved hometown of Arcadia
Reporting by Gabriela Szymanowska, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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