JUDGE AMANDA ARNOLD SANSONE TO RECEIVE DISTINGUISHED FEDERAL JUDICIAL SERVICE PRO BONO AWARD
Judge Amanda Arnold Sansone
The Hon. Amanda Arnold Sansone, a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa, is the recipient of the 2026 Distinguished Federal Judicial Service Award. The award, which honors outstanding and sustained service to the public especially as it relates to support of pro bono legal services, will be presented by Chief Justice Carlos G. Muñiz in a Jan. 22 ceremony streamed live by the Supreme Court of Florida.
Judge Sansone is the embodiment of public service and compassion with a reputation for treating each person who comes before her with respect and dignity. Beyond the courtroom, she has dedicated countless hours to serving the judiciary, the legal profession, and the community at large.
Since January 2024, Judge Sansone has served as judicial liaison overseeing operations of the pro se law clinic programs throughout the Middle District of Florida. In this role, she conducts regular meetings with all stakeholders and actively works to update and reinvigorate the pro se law clinic programs. She has also led training sessions for legal aid attorneys and organized a pro bono appreciation and award luncheon.
Judge Sansone is also actively engaged in the Federal Reentry Program and supporting its mission to help ex-convicts successfully return to society. In this role, she holds regular hearings where participants appear and discuss progress, and she provides encouragement, accountability, and structure. She also works with probation officers, treatment providers, and prosecutors/pro bono defense counsel to help participants stay on track.
She also plays a crucial role in the Middle District of Florida’s prisoner staff attorney program. In 2019, Judge Sansone was selected to supervise and act as the liaison between the staff attorneys and the District Judges, a role that requires her to help promote pro bono counsel requests in prisoner cases. She has also developed a district-wide review program for staff attorneys and planned the 2022 Middle District of Florida Staff Attorney Conference.
Note: Support of pro bono legal services by members of the bench is an activity that relates to improvement of the administration of justice. Accordingly, a judge may engage in activities intended to encourage attorneys to perform pro bono services, including, but not limited to participating in events to recognize attorneys who do pro bono work, establishing general procedural or scheduling accommodations for pro bono attorneys as feasible, and acting in an advisory capacity to pro bono programs.
This year’s awards ceremony, which also honors Individual, Circuit, Voluntary Bar, Law Firm, Young Lawyers Division, and Distinguished Judicial Service, pro bono efforts, takes place at the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday, Jan. 22, at 3:30 p.m. Watch it live on Facebook, WFSU: Gavel to Gavel and the Florida Channel.
EDITORS: Please note The Florida Bar is not an association and "Association" is not part of our name. Proper reference is "The Florida Bar." Local bar organizations are properly termed "associations."