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Editor: Rod Sullivan
Profession: Maritime Attorney

Category: Supreme Court Rulings

Judge Virginia M. Hernandez-Covington, who had been assigned as a United States District Judge in Fort Myers, has started to serve in her new post as a district judge for the Jacksonville Division.

According to the website for Stetson University College of Law, Judge Covington's biography is as follows:

Florida Governor Jeb Bush appointed Judge Covington to the Second District Court of Appeal, and she began her service in September 2001.

Prior to joining the Court, Judge Covington was the Chief of the Asset Forfeiture Section of the United States Attorney's Office for more than 12 years, receiving numerous commendations from the Department of Justice and law enforcement in that time. Judge Covington has lectured extensively on asset forfeiture, money laundering and complex prosecutions to prosecutors and law enforcement personnel nationwide. She also has taught throughout Latin America on trial advocacy practices and procedures.

Additionally, Judge Covington served as a trial attorney for the Federal Trade Commission and an Assistant State Attorney for Hillsborough County before joining the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Judge Covington earned a bachelor of science in 1976 and master of busniness administration a year later from the University of Tampa. Judge Covington earned her Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1980.

Judge Covington has received numerous awards and recognition, including being named 2003 Tampa Hispanic Woman of the Year. She serves on the National Alumni Board for Georgetown University Law Center as well as having served as Chair of the Board of Counselors of the University of Tampa and President of Tampa Hispanic Heritage. She is a founding member and president-elect of the Herbert G. Goldburg Criminal Law Inn of Court.

Her biography from The Florida Bar publication "The Record" provides some additional information:

Judge Virginia
M. Hernandez
Covington was
born in Tampa,
Florida, on July 12,
1955, the daughter of a Cuban mother.
She is married
and has three
children.
Judge Covington
graduated cum
laude with a Bachelor
of Science degree from the University
of Tampa in 1976, where she
received the Outstanding Female
Graduate Award, Class of 1976-77. In
1977, Judge Covington received the
degree of Master of Business Administration,
also from the University of
Tampa. Judge Covington then attended
Georgetown University Law
Center, where she was elected to The
Tax Lawyer law review and received
her Juris Doctor degree in 1980. After
graduation, Judge Covington was
a trial attorney for the Federal Trade
Commission and thereafter became
an Assistant State Attorney for
Hillsborough County, Florida. Judge
Covington joined the United States
Attorney's Office in 1983.
From January 1989 until September
24, 2001, she was Chief of the
Asset Forfeiture Section of the
United States Attorney's Office for
the Middle District of Florida. Judge
Covington received an award for outstanding
contribution to the asset
forfeiture program by the Executive
Office for Asset Forfeiture in 1993.
She also received Director's Awards
in 1990 and in 1996, as well as numerous
commendations from law
enforcement agencies. Judge
Covington has lectured extensively
on asset forfeiture, money laundering,
and complex prosecutions to
prosecutors and law enforcement
personnel throughout the United
States. She also has lectured to prosecutors,
law enforcement personnel,
and judges in Chile, Argentina,
Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Costa
Rica, and Honduras on trial advocacy
practices and procedures. In addition,
she served as a liaison between
the Department of Justice and the
Bolivian Government, assisting the
Bolivians with their asset forfeiture
program.
She is the 1999 winner of the
Raymond E. Fernandez Award given
by the Hillsborough County Sheriff 's
Hispanic Advisory Council to the individual
who has made outstanding
contributions to the criminal justice
system. In October 2001, Judge
Covington was honored to serve as
the keynote speaker at the Orange
County Bar Association's Hispanic
Heritage Celebration Luncheon.
Judge Covington has long been active
in community affairs. She served
as Chair of the Board of Counselors
of the University of Tampa; President
of Tampa Hispanic Heritage;
Regional President of the National
Hispanic Prosecutors Association;
and Chair of the Government Law
Section of the Hillsborough County
Bar Association. She also has been a
member of the Hispanic Needs and
Services Council; the Hispanic Professional
Women's Association; and
the Hispanic National Bar Association,
as well as numerous other community
and professional organizations.
Additionally, Judge Covington
is a founding member and has been
elected to the Executive Board of the
Herbert G. Goldburg Criminal Law
American Inn of Court.
Governor Jeb Bush appointed
Judge Covington to the Second District
Court of Appeal, and she began
her service on September 25, 2001.

According to a Gay Rights Info website, Judge Covington is perceived to be "extremely anti-gay" because of a ruling in a case which determined that " a female-to-male transsexual is still legally female." Because the Plaintiff was still legally a female, she could not legally marry another woman. Pretty thin evidence.