Paul Hitch Roney

Paul Hitch Roney (September 5, 1921 – September 16, 2006) was a United States federal judge.

Born in Olney, Illinois, Roney received an A.A. from St. Petersburg Junior College in 1940 and a B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business in 1942. He was in the U.S. Army during World War II, from 1942 to 1946, achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant. He received an LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1948, and thereafter was in private practice in New York City from 1948 to 1950, and then in St. Petersburg, Florida until 1970. He was a lecturer at Stetson College of Law in 1957, 1965, and 1966.

On October 7, 1970, Roney was nominated by President Richard Nixon to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated by George Harrold Carswell. Roney was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 13, 1970, and received his commission on October 16, 1970. On October 1, 1981, Roney was reassigned by operation of law to the newly created U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He received an LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1984. Roney served as chief judge of the Eleventh Circuit from 1986 to 1989, assuming senior status on October 1, 1989, and continued serving in that capacity until his death, in St. Petersburg, Florida. From 1994 to 2001, Judge Roney also served as Presiding Judge of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.