Gerald Bard Tjoflat

Gerald Bard Tjoflat (born December 6, 1929) is an American lawyer and Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.[1]

Gerald Bard Tjoflat
Tjoflat in 2022
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Assumed office
November 19, 2019
Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
In office
October 1, 1989 – September 20, 1996
Preceded byPaul Hitch Roney
Succeeded byJoseph W. Hatchett
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
In office
October 1, 1981 – November 19, 2019
Appointed byoperation of law
Preceded bySeat established by 94 Stat. 1994
Succeeded byRobert J. Luck
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
In office
November 21, 1975 – October 1, 1981
Appointed byGerald Ford
Preceded byJohn Milton Bryan Simpson
Succeeded bySeat abolished
Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
In office
October 16, 1970 – December 12, 1975
Appointed byRichard Nixon
Preceded bySeat established by 84 Stat. 294
Succeeded byHowell W. Melton
Personal details
Born
Gerald Bard Tjoflat

(1929-12-06) December 6, 1929
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
EducationDuke University School of Law (LLB)

Education and career

Tjoflat was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He served in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955, attaining the rank of corporal. Tjoflat earned his Bachelor of Laws from Duke University School of Law in 1957. He was in private practice in Jacksonville, Florida from 1957 to 1968 and served as a judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida in Jacksonville from 1968 to 1970.[2]

Federal judicial service

President Richard Nixon nominated Tjoflat to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida on October 7, 1970, to a new seat created by 84 Stat. 294. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 13, 1970, he received his commission three days later. His service terminated on December 12, 1975, due to his elevation to the Fifth Circuit.[2]

President Gerald Ford nominated Tjoflat to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on November 3, 1975, to a seat vacated by Judge John Milton Bryan Simpson. He was confirmed by the Senate on November 20, 1975, he received his commission the next day and began serving on the court on December 12, 1975.[2] Tjoflat was reassigned by operation of law to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on October 1, 1981, when that court was established. He served as Chief Judge from 1989 to 1996.[2]

Following the failure of the Robert Bork nomination in 1987, Tjoflat was placed on the short list of possible nominees for the Supreme Court seat formerly occupied by Lewis F. Powell Jr..[3] Former Governor Claude R. Kirk Jr. pushed for Tjoflat to be nominated after Douglas H. Ginsburg withdrew,[4] but although Florida Senators Lawton Chiles and Bob Graham both said Tjoflat was much more acceptable than Bork,[5] it was always extremely uncertain whether Northeastern Democrats would have found him acceptable,[6] and consequently the seat went to Anthony Kennedy.

Retirement

During the second week of August 2019, Tjoflat informed President Donald Trump that he will take senior status contingent upon the confirmation and appointment of his successor.[7] He was the last federal judge in active service to have been appointed to his position by President Ford,[lower-alpha 1] and as of 2023 remains the fourth-longest-serving federal judge measured by time in active service.[lower-alpha 2] On November 19, 2019, his successor, Robert J. Luck, was confirmed and received his commission the same day. After his successor received his commission, he assumed senior status on the same day.[2]

Memberships and honor

In 1995, the Duke Law Journal at the Duke University School of Law published a tribute to Tjoflat that included articles by then-Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, retired Justices Lewis F. Powell, Jr. and Byron R. White, and Judge Edward R. Becker of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, among others.[8]

See also

Notes
  1. Joel Flaum, originally appointed by Ford to the Northern District of Illinois, would be appointed by Ronald Reagan to the Seventh Circuit and remain in active service until November 30, 2020
  2. Tjoflat’s 49 years and 34 days in active service is exceeded only by:
    1. Henry Potter of the District of North Carolina and the original Fifth Circuit with 56 years and 225 days
    2. William Cranch of the original District of Columbia Circuit with 54 years, 182 days
    3. Manuel Real of the Central District of California with 52 years and one day

References
  1. Hall, K.; Rise, E.W. (1991). From local courts to national tribunals: the federal district courts of Florida, 1821-1990. Carlson Pub. ISBN 9780926019591. Retrieved 2015-06-03.
  2. Gerald Bard Tjoflat at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  3. Yalof, David Alistair (1999). Pursuit of Justices: Presidential Politics and the Selection of Supreme Court Nominees from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush. University of Chicago Press. p. 162. ISBN 0226945456.
  4. Hodges, Sam (December 13, 1987). "Still Claude Kirk after All These Years". Florida Magazine (The Orlando Sentinel). Orlando, Florida. p. 26.
  5. French, Mary Ann (October 8, 1987). "Chiles, Graham Join Foes of Judge Bork's Confirmation". Tampa Bay Times. Tampa, Florida. p. 5A.
  6. "Court Nominee Expected to Be Chosen This Week". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. October 27, 1987. p. 12A.
  7. Bill Rankin, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Trump gets another seat to fill on influential Atlanta appeals court". ajc.
  8. "Tribute to Gerald Bard Tjoflat — Duke Law Review". scholarship.law.duke.edu. Retrieved 2015-06-03.

Sources
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