In his evolution from a 1960s civil rights attorney to impeached federal judge to longtime south Florida congressman, the life of Rep. Alcee Hastings was distinguished by passion and resilience, according to those who knew him.
Hastings, who died April 6 at age 84, served in Congress for 28 years. He became Florida’s first Black federal judge in 1979 after being nominated to the position by former President Jimmy Carter. But he was removed from that office a decade later after the U.S. Senate convicted him on bribery and corruption charges, though he was earlier acquitted of the charges by a criminal court.
“I know he was a symbol of resiliency, a symbol of passion, a symbol of justice,” Phyllis Diane Kotey, a law professor at Florida International University in Miami, told the Florida Record.
Kotey, who met Hastings several times and was herself a former senior judge in Florida, said that if the impeachment period was a difficult time for the senior Florida statesman, he didn’t show it.
“His passion as a judge was only superseded by his passion as a congressman,” she said. “As a retired judge, I can testify about how very limited a judge is in terms of what they can really do. … The greatest thing was the resiliency that we saw in his comeback to a better place where he could do even more.”
In addition to his serving his constituents in the 20th District, Hastings was known for championing human rights on the international stage. In 2007, he became the first Black chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the Helsinki Commission).
In that role, the congressman shared the sentiments of Martin Luther King Jr. when King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” according to Kotey.
“That’s why he was so expansive in terms of how he saw his need to fight for human rights and how he did it,” she said.
President Biden released a statement recognizing Hastings for his longtime advocacy for equal justice.
“It was a passion he forged as a pioneering civil rights lawyer in the 1960s, fighting tirelessly to desegregate hotels, restaurants and public spaces in south Florida – a trailblazing spirit to advocate for what is right that guided him throughout his life,” Biden said.
Throughout his later years, Hastings encouraged people of color to enter public life and to fight for justice, according to Kotey.
“He was a whirlwind,” she said. “And that’s just how he led. Sitting by passively was not his style.”