Most Disorderly Court

Martin A. Dyckman, retired associate editor of the St. Petersburg Times, is the author of Floridian of His Century: The Courage of Governor LeRoy Collins.

• ForewordChronology/Cast of CharactersPreface and Acknowledgments1. Seventeen Equal Pieces2. Justice Dekle’s “Dissent”3. School for Scandal4. David McCain, Eagle Scout5. What’s a Politician to Do?6. Shadows of Treason7. Circling the Wagons8. A “Good Old Boy” Court9. A Florida Watergate?10. Like Calling Walter Cronkite11. Public Trial, Secret Trial12. A Politician First . . . a Justice Second13. Dekle Resigns14. Appearance of Impropriety15. The Old Order Is Over16. The Fugitive17. The Keys to the Courthouse18. Clear and Present DangersNotesBibliographyIndex

“Fast-paced and fascinating.”—Tallahassee Democrat“In what reads more like a novel than a history book, A Most Disorderly Court recounts a dark period in Florida politics and traces the reform efforts that ultimately led to a constitutional amendment providing for the appointment of all Florida’s appellate judges.”—Florida Bar Journal“Recounting the complicated web of events and people that comprise this story is no easy task, but Dyckman does an excellent job of establishing historical background while describing complicated legal and legislative issues for a wider audience. . . . A sound piece of investigative journalism and history for all readers and researchers of Florida law and politics.”—Florida Historical Quarterly“Presents a penetrating and shocking account of a dark period in the history of government and politics in Florida, in general, and the Florida judiciary, in particular.”—Tampa Bay History