Craig Waters

Craig Waters
Craig Waters briefs worldwide media, December 2000, in Bush v. Gore
Spokesman for the Florida Supreme Court
In office June 1, 1996 – Present
Preceded by	Position created
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Personal details
Born	1956 Pensacola
Political party	No Party Affiliation
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	SBNR
Website	LinkedIn

Attorney Craig Waters has been the public information officer and communications director for the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee since June 1, 1996. He is best known as the public spokesman for the Court during the 2000 presidential election controversy, when he frequently appeared on worldwide newscasts announcing rulings in lawsuits over Florida's decisive vote in the election.

These cases are known to history as George W. Bush v. Albert Gore, Jr. or Bush v. Gore. Waters' role in these events has been reprised in films, documentaries, and books about Florida's botched 2000 general election, which forced the world to wait for more than a month to learn who would become the next President of the United State of America.

Waters began work at the Florida Supreme Court on March 2, 1987, as a law clerk (staff attorney). He was one of the first openly gay men to work at the state's highest court at a time when gender-based and other forms of discrimination were not only common but institutionalized. In 1987, the only two restrooms on the main floor were marked "Women" and "Lawyers," and it was common for some Justices to question young attorneys about their sexual orientation when interviewing for jobs as law clerks. Well into the 1990s, some management staff at the Court still openly used derogatory terms to refer to gay people.

In the early 1990s, Waters was instrumental both in creating and then greatly expanding the Florida Supreme Court's website at a time when the World-Wide Web was new and barely understood. Under the administration of Chief Justice Gerald Kogan, Waters led the Florida Supreme Court's efforts to begin webcasting video of all of its oral arguments when the technology to do so first became available.

Simultaneously, the Court began broadcasting via satellite and over the cable network the Florida Channel as part of the same program. Broadcasts continue to the present day. In the early 2000s, Waters made the Florida Supreme Court a pioneer in the use of emerging social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn to communicate with the public.