Judge Winston E. Arnow
Judge Winston E. Arnow
1911 – 1994
Judge Winston E. Arnow
Judge Winston E. Arnow
1911 – 1994
Judge Winston E. Arnow
1911 – 1994
The Honorable Winston Eugene “Bo” Arnow (1911-1994) was a federal judge serving in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, who presided over numerous civil rights cases. Judge Arnow made several landmark civil rights decisions that affected the area. In 1969, he ordered the desegregation of the Escambia County School District. He issued the 1973 injunction against Escambia High School’s use of the name “Rebels” and Confederate flag for their sports teams. In 1975, he ordered the City of Tallahassee to hire minorities in key government leadership roles as a result of the efforts of civil rights activists Robert and Trudie Perkins. In 1978, he ruled in favor of black groups led by Dr. Elmer Jenkins to establish single-member districts, resulting in the election of African-Americans to the Pensacola City Council, Escambia County Commission and Escambia County School Board. In 1981 he sealed a settlement in a discrimination case, requiring the Air Force to establish a $2 million fund and Eglin Air Force Base to hire 100 black workers for its civilian labor force and promote others already on the payroll. Judge Lacey Collier said of these decisions, “Judge Arnow was a man who was clearly ahead of his time, and, of course, damned and vilified for it. But history has proved he was right, not just legally but also morally.”

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