Curtis L. Waller

Curtis Longino Waller (January 9, 1887 – July 11, 1950) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge.

Waller was born in Silver Creek, Mississippi. He received his Ph.B. from Mississippi College in 1908 and his LL.B. from Millsaps College in 1910.

Waller was private secretary to U.S. Representative Pat Harrison in 1911. He was in private practice in St. Louis, Mississippi from 1914 to 1927, and was a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel in World War I. Waller served as a member of the Mississippi Legislature in 1924.

Waller relocated to Florida and was in private practice in Tallahassee from 1930 to 1940. Waller was a state's attorney in 1932 and a member of the Florida Legislature in 1933.

Waller established, with Claude Pepper, the law firm of Waller and Pepper. Over the course of his judicial career Waller never had a decision overturned by a higher court.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated Waller to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida on June 11, 1940, to a new seat created by 54 Stat. 219. Confirmed by the Senate on June 15, 1940, and received his commission on June 19, 1940.

Roosevelt nominated Waller to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on February 18, 1943, to a new seat created by 56 Stat. 1050. Confirmed by the Senate on March 9, he received his commission on March 10 and began service on March 12. Waller remained on the court until he died in 1950.

The west front of the Florida State Capitol is designated as Waller Park in his memory.

Sources

• Curtis L. Waller at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.