Gerald Tjoflat
Portrait of Tjoflat at the Elbert P. Tuttle United States Court of Appeals Building in Atlanta, GA
Senior Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office November 19, 2019
Chief Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
In office October 1, 1989 – September 20, 1996
Preceded by	Paul Hitch Roney
Succeeded by	Joseph W. Hatchett
Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
In office October 1, 1981 – November 19, 2019
Appointed by	Operation of law
Preceded by	Seat established
Succeeded by	Robert J. Luck
Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
In office November 21, 1975 – October 1, 1981
Appointed by	Gerald Ford
Preceded by	John Milton Bryan Simpson
Succeeded by	Seat abolished
Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
In office October 16, 1970 – December 12, 1975
Appointed by	Richard Nixon
Preceded by	Seat established
Succeeded by	Howell W. Melton
Personal details
Born	Gerald Bard Tjoflat (1929-12-06)December 6, 1929 (age 95) Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, U.S.
Education	University of Virginia University of Cincinnati (BA) Duke University (LLB)

Gerald Bard Tjoflat (born December 6, 1929) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as aSeniorUnited States circuit judge of theU.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.^[1] He previously served as Chief Judge of the Eleventh Circuit and as aUnited States district judge on theU.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Tjoflat is currently tied withJ. Clifford Wallace as the longest serving U.S. federal judge.

Tjoflat was born in 1929 inPittsburgh,Pennsylvania. In his youth, Tjoflat was a baseball pitcher and received an offer to work out with theCincinnati Reds before college.^[2] He then attended theUniversity of Virginia on a baseball scholarship. After two years, financial constraints led him to transfer to theUniversity of Cincinnati, where he completed his undergraduate degree.

Tjoflat enrolled in theUniversity of Cincinnati College of Law, but was drafted into theU.S. Army at the end of his first semester to serve in theKorean War. He served in theCounterintelligence Corps until 1955, attaining therank ofcorporal. After leaving the Army, Tjoflat returned to Cincinnati and completed his first year of law school. He then transferred to theDuke University School of Law, graduating in 1957 with aBachelor of Laws.^[3]

Tjoflat was inprivate practice inJacksonville,Florida from 1957 to 1968 and served as a judge of theFourth Judicial Circuit of Florida in Jacksonville from 1968 to 1970.^[4]

PresidentRichard Nixon nominated Tjoflat to theUnited 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 theUnited States Senate on October 13, 1970 and received his commission three days later. His service terminated on December 12, 1975, due to his elevation to the Fifth Circuit.

PresidentGerald Ford nominated Tjoflat to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on November 3, 1975, to a seat vacated by JudgeJohn Milton Bryan Simpson. He was confirmed by the Senate on November 20, 1975, received his commission the next day, and began serving on the court on December 12, 1975.^[4] Believing the Fifth Circuit had grown too large, Tjoflat supported legislation to split the circuit in two.^[5] On October 1, 1981, theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit was created, and Tjoflat was reassigned byoperation of law. He served as Chief Judge of the Eleventh Circuit from 1989 to 1996.^[4]

On November 19, 2019, Tjoflat assumed senior status. He was the last federal judge in active service appointed by either President Ford^[a] or President Nixon.^[b] Tjoflat's tenure in active service is the fourth longest by a federal judge in U.S. history.^[c] Tjoflat continues to regularly sit on cases and author opinions.^[6]

Following the failure ofthe Robert Bork nomination in 1987, Tjoflat was placed on the short list of possible nominees for theSupreme Court seat formerly occupied byLewis F. Powell Jr.^[7]Florida GovernorClaude R. Kirk Jr. pushed for Tjoflat to be nominated afterDouglas H. Ginsburg withdrew.^[8] Though Florida SenatorsLawton Chiles andBob Graham both considered Tjoflat more viable than Bork,^[9] it was uncertain whetherNortheastern Democrats would have found him acceptable.^[10] The seat consequently went toAnthony Kennedy.

In 1999, PresidentBill Clinton was impeached by theUnited States House of Representatives on charges of lying under oath and obstruction of justice. The charges stemmed from Clinton's false testimony provided in a deposition related toPaula Jones' lawsuit against the President. Chairman of theHouse Judiciary CommitteeHenry Hyde invited Tjoflat to testify at the impeachment hearings alongside JudgeCharles E. Wiggins,Elliot Richardson, andAlan Dershowitz. Tjoflat initially declined, but he was threatened with a subpoena. He testified generally about the deleterious nature of perjury in civil cases, describing its ripple effect on the system of justice, but refused to comment on whether the House should move forward with impeachment.^[11]

Shortly after Tjoflat assumed the role of Chief Judge, Eleventh Circuit JudgeRobert Smith Vance was murdered when a pipe bomb was mailed to his house.^[12] Bombs were also sent to the Eleventh Circuit courthouse inAtlanta and theNAACP office in Jacksonville. Tjoflat helped to organize the investigation with thenAttorney GeneralDick Thornburgh andDeputy Attorney GeneralRobert Mueller.^[12]Walter Moody was ultimately convicted for the crime, which was motivated by the Eleventh Circuit's refusal to expunge his earlier federal conviction for possessing an explosive device.^[12]

• Mims v. Duval County School Board (M.D. Fla. 1971): Following the Supreme Court's opinion inSwann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, Tjoflat ordered the immediate desegregation of theDuval County Public Schools.^[2] His order, among other things, mandated the cross bussing of both White and Black students and closed certain underperforming all-Black schools.^[13] In the wake ofMims, Tjoflat and his family received death threats, and there were calls for hisimpeachment.^[2]

• Hishon v. King & Spalding (11th Cir. 1982): A female lawyer alleged that she was denied entry to her law firm's partnership on the basis of sex. The district court dismissed her case, and the Eleventh Circuit affirmed, holding that "matters of voluntary association such as legal partnerships" were outside the scope of Title VII of theCivil Rights Act of 1964. Tjoflat dissented, arguing that the majority's opinion was "too glib" and that he would reverse the lower court.^[14] The Supreme Court agreed with Tjoflat, reversing the panel's majority.^[15]

• Siegel v. Lepore (11th Cir. 2000) (en banc): Plaintiffs, includingGeorge W. Bush andDick Cheney sued to stop four Florida counties from conducting manual recounts of the ballots case in the2000 United States Presidential Election. The district court denied the request for an injunction, and the Eleventh Circuit affirmed. Tjoflat dissented in both the panel opinion and the subsequenten banc opinion.^[16] His reasoning was largely adopted by the Supreme Court majority inBush v. Gore.

• Major League Baseball v. Crist (11th Cir. 2003): Florida's Attorney General began investigating the2001 Major League Baseball contraction plan for violations of state antitrust law. Florida was concerned that the plan, which promised to eliminate two teams, might impact theFlorida Marlins or theTampa Bay Devil Rays. The Eleventh Circuit, in an opinion authored by Tjoflat, held that the investigation was invalid. The Supreme Court had earlier ruled inFlood v. Kuhn that baseball is exempted from federal antitrust laws. The Eleventh Circuit held that this exemption meant state antitrust laws were also preempted. Tjoflat described the baseball exemption as "a judge-made rule premised upon dubious rationales" but that "a good faith reading of Supreme Court precedent" compelled the ruling.^[17]

• Arce v. García (11th Cir. 2006): Plaintiffs, who were kidnapped and tortured during theSalvadoran Civil War, suedJosé Guillermo García andCarlos Eugenio Vides Casanova under theTorture Victim Protection Act andAlien Tort Claims Act. A jury awarded plaintiffs $56,000,000. On appeal, the defendants argued that the suit was barred by a ten-yearstatute of limitations. Tjoflat, writing for a unanimous panel, affirmed on the grounds that the statute of limitations was appropriately tolled because the defendants maintained power inEl Salvador until 1992 and would have suppressed anyone seeking legal redress. He wrote, "the remedial scheme conceived by the TVPA and the ATCA would fail if courts allowed the clock to run on potentially meritorious claims while the regime responsible for the heinous acts for which these statutes provide redress remains in power, frightening those who may wish to come forward from ever telling their stories."^[18]

• Cambridge University Press v. Patton (11th Cir. 2014):Cambridge Press suedGeorgia State University officials, alleging the University committedcopyright infringement by posting excerpts from academic works on its e-reserve system. The district court issued a 300-plus page opinion, holding that GSU's system largely constitutedfair use, but finding 10 instances of infringement out of the 99 claims brought to trial. On appeal, Tjoflat authored the Eleventh Circuit’s decision, which affirmed some of the lower court opinion, but reversed and remanded to reject the district court's "mechanistic" application of the fair use factors and to reject its use of bright-line rules.^[19] On remand, the district court found even fewer instances of infringement. The case attracted widespread attention from publishers and academic institutions.

• Moody v. NetChoice, LLC (11th Cir. 2022): In 2021, Florida GovernorRon DeSantis signed SB 7072, which imposed fines on social media companies for de-platforming political figures. It also provided various restrictions on platforms' ability to moderate user content.NetChoice and theComputer & Communications Industry Association sued, and the district court enjoined the law. The Eleventh Circuit upheld the injunction.Kevin Newsom writing for a unanimous panel including Tjoflat andEd Carnes, held that the law would "chill platforms' protected speech" under theFirst Amendment.^[20] The Supreme Court remanded the case for further analysis on the remedy.^[21]

Tjoflat has had over 200law clerks during his tenure on the federal bench.^[2] His clerks have also clerked for theSupreme Court, including for JusticesSandra Day O'Connor,William Rehnquist,John Paul Stevens, andByron White.

• Nick Brod – Solicitor General, North Carolina Department of Justice
• J. Brett Busby – Justice,Supreme Court of Texas
• Nathan Chapman – Associate Dean,University of Georgia School of Law
• Timothy J. Corrigan – District Judge,United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
• Stuart Delery – FormerWhite House Counsel andUnited States Associate Attorney General
• William F. Jung – District Judge,United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
• Jeremy Kernodle – District Judge,United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
• Michael Scharf – Associate Dean,Case Western Reserve University School of Law
• Jamelle C. Sharpe - Dean,University of Illinois College of Law
• Joel Toomey – Magistrate Judge,United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
• Jack Wilson – Judge,Mississippi Court of Appeals

In 1995, theDuke Law Journal published a tribute to Tjoflat that included articles by then-Chief JusticeWilliam H. Rehnquist, retired JusticesLewis F. Powell, Jr. andByron R. White, and JudgeEdward R. Becker of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, among others.^[22] White also presented Tjoflat with the Fordham-Stein prize the following year.^[2]

In 1980 and in 1985, Judge Tjoflat was a member of the United States delegation to the Sixth and Seventh United Nations Congresses for the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders.^[5] In 2022, the appellate court room at theBryan Simpson United States Courthouse was named in Tjoflat's honor.^[23] Tjoflat is a member of theDuke Law School Board of Visitors.

Tjoflat met his first wife, Sarah, while attendingDuke Law School.^[2] He has two children. After Sarah's passing, Tjoflat married his second wife, Marcia Tjoflat.^[2] His father, an electrical engineer, was ofNorwegian ancestry, and his mother was an immigrant fromChile.^[3] His Chilean ancestry makes Tjoflat the first Hispanic circuit judge in the United States.^[3]

Tjoflat's reputation for asking difficult questions duringoral argument led him to receive the moniker "Tjoflatosaurus Rex."^[2]

• Gerald Bard Tjoflat at theBiographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of theFederal Judicial Center.

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