P. Kent Spriggs ‘61 died on November 2, 2026, in Ashville, North Carolina.
Kent Spriggs ’61
(The following was provided by the Pembroke Pines News on November 6, 2026:)
Kent Spriggs poses after cutting sugar cane in Cuba in sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s. Provided by Kathleen Laufenburg USA TODAY Network, Reuters Longtime Tallahassee civil rights attorney Kent Spriggs – also a former city commissioner and mayor who spent more than fifty years fighting discrimination and racism – died November 2 at his Ashville, North Carolina, home.
The 87-year-old’s death was announced by his wife, retired Tallahassee Democrat reporter Kathleen Laufenberg.
Spriggs confronted injustice, even when it meant going head-to-head with hate groups, fielding threats or being handcuffed and jailed. Those who knew him say his intense disposition was rooted in a “take no prisoners” pursuit of the law.
Some of his notable cases included David Roby Keaton, part of the “Quincy Five,” a name given to five Black men from the rural city twenty miles west of Tallahassee who were arrested for the murder of an off-duty Leon County sheriff’s deputy during a robbery of a Tallahassee convenience store in 1970.
The arrest sparked an outpouring of protests in Quincy and Tallahassee by those who believed the men were unfairly accused, according to a 2015 article in the Tallahassee Democrat. Keaton, one of the first to go on trial, was sentenced to death and later became the nation’s first prisoner exonerated from death row.
There were dozens more clients and causes. In the courtroom, Spriggs was a fearless force, many said. It wasn’t unusual for Spriggs to challenge federal judges – always with respect – if he didn’t agree with a ruling.
“He was tough. He was not afraid, and he gained a lot of respect from defendants’ attorneys that had to fight him because of that,” said Tommy Warren, a longtime Tallahassee civil-rights attorney and former Florida State University athlete. “He showed me, especially if you’re going to be a civil rights lawyer, that being committed to social values is very valuable,” added Warren, a longtime peer who also once worked for Spriggs. In his own words:
Why Spriggs chose a civil rights career
Early in his law career, Spriggs knew he wanted to play a part in the civil rights movement. As a student at Bowdoin College 1957–61, he wanted to pin down a career that would give him purpose.
Spriggs attended Harvard’s graduate school of design 1961–62 and received his law degree from New York University in 1965.
In a 2016 column in the Democrat, Spriggs described how the South was the epicenter for the civil rights movement, led by the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Though ensconced at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, about as far from the struggle as was possible, I read voraciously to prepare myself,” he wrote. “In the summer of 1960, I was appointed to be the page of the Maine delegation at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.
“… I hitchhiked across the country. The day before the convention started, there was an immense gathering of civil rights groups. Dr. King spoke. Captive to his charisma, when the speeches were over, I made my way to a side exit just to see him. I got within about ten feet.”
As the movement grew, so did the young Spriggs’ realization that he had found his life’s mission.
By 1963, he was among the 250,000 who heard Dr. King’s “I have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Three years later, Spriggs was arrested in Mississippi while a volunteer civil-rights attorney for the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee after he served Mississippi Sheriff Lawrence Rainey a subpoena to appear in federal court.
Another notable arrest happened in Americus, Georgia, when Spriggs was among 250 to 300 other people that were taken to jail. Among them was prominent civil rights leader Hosea Williams, one of King’s top lieutenants in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
“After an afternoon and evening in jail, the assistant U.S. attorney came and told me that I was in big trouble,” Spriggs wrote. “I asked him what he was going to say to the court at arraignment when I told the judge that I had permission from the Deputy Attorney General. He sputtered and let me go before (the) arraignment.”
Spriggs described as ‘very committed,’ ‘very vocal’
During his work in the movement, Spriggs also worked closely with the late Rev. C.K. Steele, pastor of the historic Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee who also served as King’s first vice president in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Fast forward to 2019, Spriggs was one of several then-current and former elected officials who spoke during a dedication ceremony in honor of State Roads 373 and 371 being named for Steele. He talked about the process and what the renaming meant to Tallahassee.
Spriggs spent his legal career amassing victories and settlements in cases stemming from harassment, race-discrimination class action suits, and whistleblower suits, to name a few.
One case involved the Florida Education Association against the state of Florida. The plaintiffs, according to Spriggs’s website, challenged the requirement of a top 20% score on the ACT or SAT as a requirement for statewide teacher bonuses. The case ended in a settlement.
Another case centered around a nationwide race discrimination case filed in Illinois that involved Black current and former Walgreens employees who were in retail management and pharmacy positions. The suit alleged the company failed to promote Black employees on the same basis as whites and failed to compensate them on the same basis as whites. It was settled for $25 million.
He also authored books, including “More Voices of Civil Rights Lawyers Continuing the Struggle,” published in 2024. That chronicles the real life experiences of 23 lawyers fighting for justice in the Southeast, up to the 1980s.
His career pivoted to public office. By 1981, Spriggs was elected to the Tallahassee City Commission. He served one term, which included a year as mayor pro tem and another as mayor in 1984–85, when the ceremonial position rotated among commissioners.
Former Tallahassee City Commissioner Debbie Lightsey said Spriggs served just before she was elected in 1989. She’d known him for years and described him as being “very committed” and “very vocal.”
“You were never in doubt about where Kent was, and I appreciated that. I think many citizens do,” said Lightsey, who went on to sit on the commission for 22 years. “He was full of energy through the years.”
Lightsey said Spriggs added an essential voice to discussions and debates during his tenure. Mary Ann Lindley, formerly a Leon County commissioner and editorial page editor at the Democrat, said she remembers him being a strong voice for any subject that he took on.
“It wasn’t just idle opinion,” Lindley said. “He was a really super smart guy, really brilliant.”
Spriggs began tapering off his law work in 2007 into semi-retirement, selling his law office on College Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard in 2010, then fully retiring from legal practice in 2025.
Spriggs’ wife: ‘I’m going to miss our everyday life together’
For Kathleen Laufenberg, who married Spriggs in 2015, she lived with and saw his softer side, as compared to the relentless champion for justice so many others witnessed.
Traveling the world was his great escape, even before they found love in each other. She said he traveled to more than 60 countries in his lifetime. Together, they saw wild animals in Tanzania, ate decadent foods in Paris and lost themselves in amusing plays on Broadway in New York.
“Kent and I got together in our later years, and he had mellowed tremendously,” she said by phone from Asheville, referring to her life partner’s famous intensity.
His death, she said, was unexpected. The two split their time between Tallahassee and Asheville. Laufenberg said they were planning to return to the state capital for a wedding; his grandson was tying the knot.
She said Spriggs died after an endoscopy, despite being in great shape.
“I’m going to miss our everyday life together,” said Laufenberg, a staff writer at the Democrat 1993–2010. “We had our little routine that we love to do, our little lunchtime routine and our dinner routine and … dining out with friends that we have here in Asheville and in Tallahassee.”
Spriggs was her life partner and her person, she said: “I’m going to really miss him a lot … He was just very kind and an incredibly generous person, there to help others.”
Kent Spriggs and Kathleen Laufenberg on vacation in Tanzania after a hot-air balloon ride over the Serengeti in 2016. Provided by Kathleen Laufenberg USA TODAY Network, Reuters