Armstead Brown

{{Short description|American judge (1875–1951)}}

{{for|the Wisconsin farmer, miner, and lawyer|Armstead C. Brown}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Armstead Brown

| image = Armstead Brown.jpg

| caption = Brown in 1925

| office = Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court

| termstart = January 1941

| termend = January 1943

| nominator =

| appointer =

| predecessor =

| successor =

| office2 = Justice of the Florida Supreme Court

| termstart2 = July 1, 1925

| termend2 = December 1, 1946

| nominator2 =

| appointer2 =

| predecessor2 = Jefferson B. Browne

| successor2 = Paul D. Barns

| birth_date = {{birth date|1875|06|06}}

| birth_place = Talbotton, Georgia, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1951|10|29|1875|06|06}}

| death_place = New York, New York, U.S.

| spouse =

}}

Armstead Brown (June 6, 1875 – October 29, 1951) was a justice of the Florida Supreme Court from 1925 to 1946.

Born in Talbotton, Georgia, in 1875,Erik Robinson, "Florida Supreme Court Justices: List of Life Dates", Florida Supreme Court Historical Society (June 2010). Brown dropped out of school at the age of 14 to become the personal secretary to former Confederate general John Brown Gordon.{{cite news |title=Justice Brown Not to Run for Re-election |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57342811/the-tampa-tribune/ |accessdate=August 14, 2020 |work=The Tampa Tribune |date=December 30, 1945}} Brown studied law in Alabama under the tuition of his uncle, Judge J. R. Dowdell, who later joined the Alabama Supreme Court.Joseph A. Boyd Jr., Randall Reder, "[http://repository.law.miami.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2341&context=umlr A History of the Florida Supreme Court]", University of Miami Law Review (1981), p. 1050. He was admitted to the bar in Alabama in 1897, and practiced law in Montgomery, Alabama before being appointed a judge.{{cite web |title=Justice Armstead Brown |url=https://www.floridasupremecourt.org/Justices/Former-Justices/Justice-Armstead-Brown |website=Florida Supreme Court |accessdate=August 14, 2020}} In 1915, Brown moved to Jacksonville, Florida, before moving to Miami two years later.

Governor John W. Martin appointed Brown to the Florida Supreme Court in 1925, and he was called to the bench on July 1. He largely followed a middle-of-the road between liberal and conservative judicial philosophy, although his opinions largely used detailed outlines of reasoning and conservative language. Brown handled cases involving zoning laws and technical interpretations of the state constitution. Brown served two terms as Chief Justice, from December 4, 1925, to January 11, 1927, and from January 1941 to January 1943. He retired on December 1, 1946, a month ahead of his scheduled retirement.{{cite news |title=Major Shifts in State Jobs Slated Today |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57342285/the-tampa-tribune/ |accessdate=August 14, 2020 |work=The Tampa Tribune |date=December 1, 1946 |page=12|via=Newspapers.com}}

Brown died at the Plaza Hotel in New York, New York on October 29, 1951. He was celebrating his anniversary with his wife, and the death was attributed to a heart condition.{{cite news |title=Armstead Brown, 76, Dies in New York |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57341278/the-tampa-times/ |accessdate=August 14, 2020 |work=The Tampa Times |date=October 29, 1951 |page=1|via=Newspapers.com}} Five of his diaries from the 1940s were donated to the Florida Supreme Court Library and present a view of his life on the court.