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Born in [[1911]], Judge Arnow grew up near Gainesville, Florida. He received his bachelor's degree in business from the University of Florida, where he also received a law degree in 1933.
He practiced law in Gainesville for 35 years and was a municipal judge in [[19681966]] when President [[Wikipedia:Lyndon B. Johnson|Lyndon B. Johnson]] appointed him to the federal bench. He moved to Pensacola immediately and became the first federal judge to live in the city since [[1934]].
Judge Arnow made a number of landmark [[civil rights]] decisions that affected the area. In [[1969]], he ordered the [[Segregation|desegregation]] of the [[Escambia County School District]]. He issued the [[1973]] injunction against [[Escambia High School]]'s use of the nickname "Rebels" and Confederate battle flag for their sports teams. In [[1978]] he ruled in favor of black groups to established single-member districts, which resulted in the election of African-Americans to the [[Pensacola City Council]], [[Escambia County Commission]] and [[Escambia County School Board]]. In [[1981]] he sealed a settlement in a discrimination case, requiring the Air Force to establish a $2 million fund and [[Eglin Air Force Base]] to hire 100 black workers for its civilian labor force and promote others already on the payroll. Judge [[Lacey Collier]] said of these decisions, "Judge Arnow was a man who was clearly ahead of his time, and, of course, damned and vilified for it. But history has proved he was right, not just legally but also morally."<ref>"Judge Winston Arnow, 83, whose civil rights rulings changed state." ''St. Petersburg Times'', December 1, 1994.</ref>