# Richard Ervin
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{{Short description|American judge}}
{{One source|date=July 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Richard Ervin
| image = Richard W Ervin.jpg
| order = 34th
| office = Chief Justice of Florida
| term_start = January 7, 1969
| term_end = January 5, 1971
| predecessor = [Millard Caldwell](/source/Millard_Caldwell)
| successor = [B. K. Roberts](/source/B._K._Roberts)
| office2 = Florida Attorney General
| order2 = 28th
| term_start2 = 1949
| term_end2 = 1964
| governor2 = [Fuller Warren](/source/Fuller_Warren)
[Daniel T. McCarty](/source/Daniel_T._McCarty)
[Charley Eugene Johns](/source/Charley_Eugene_Johns)
[LeRoy Collins](/source/LeRoy_Collins)
[C. Farris Bryant](/source/C._Farris_Bryant)
| predecessor2 = [J. Thomas Watson](/source/J._Thomas_Watson)
| successor2 = [James W. Kynes](/source/James_W._Kynes)
| birth_name = Richard Reehorse Ervin
| birth_date = January 26, 1905
| birth_place = [Carrabelle, Florida](/source/Carrabelle%2C_Florida), U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|8|24|1905|1|26}}
| death_place = [Tallahassee, Florida](/source/Tallahassee%2C_Florida), U.S.
| profession = [Lawyer](/source/Lawyer)
| party = [Democrat](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States))
}}
'''Richard William Ervin Jr.''' (born Richard Reehorse Ervin, January 26, 1905 – August 24, 2004) was the [Florida attorney general](/source/Florida_attorney_general) from 1949 to 1964 and served as [chief justice](/source/chief_justice) of the [Florida Supreme Court](/source/Florida_Supreme_Court) from 1969 to 1971.[{{cite web |title=Justice Richard William Ervin |url=https://www.floridasupremecourt.org/Justices/Former-Justices/Justice-Richard-William-Ervin |website=Supreme Court |accessdate=30 July 2020}}] He is credited with guiding the state from [segregation](/source/Racial_segregation) (based on the brief he wrote to the [United States Supreme Court](/source/United_States_Supreme_Court)'s request from each [state's attorney general](/source/State_attorney_general) on how to rule regarding ''[Brown v. Board of Education](/source/Brown_v._Board_of_Education)''), and desegregating its schools.
His son, [Richard W. Ervin III](/source/Richard_W._Ervin_III), was a judge of the First District Court of Appeal for 30 years and retired at the end of 2006.
Ervin was a graduate of the [University of Florida](/source/University_of_Florida), where he was a member of [Phi Kappa Tau](/source/Phi_Kappa_Tau) fraternity. He earned his law degree at the [University of Florida College of Law](/source/University_of_Florida_College_of_Law) in 1928.