Gerald Tjoflat

Gerald Tjoflat

Nonpartisan

United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit (senior status)

Tenure

2019 - Present

Years in position

5

Prior offices

United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida

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United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit

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United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit

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Education

Law

Duke University School of Law, 1957

Personal

Birthplace

Pittsburgh, Pa.

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Gerald Tjofalt is a federal judge on senior status with the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. He was reassigned to a new seat on the 11th Circuit on October 1, 1981, which was created by statute reorganizing the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. Tjoflat assumed senior status on November 19, 2019, after the confirmation of his successor, Robert J. Luck.

Before his reassignment to the 11th Circuit, Tjoflat served on the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit from 1975 to 1981. He was a judge on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida from 1970 to 1975.

Early life and education

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Tjofalt graduated from Duke University School of Law with his LL.B. in 1957.

Military service

Tjofalt served as a corporal in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955.

Professional career

• 1968-1970: Judge, Fourth Circuit Court of Florida
• 1957-1968: Private practice, Jacksonville, Fla.

Judicial nominations and appointments

11th Circuit Court of Appeals

Tjoflat was reassigned to a new seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on October 1, 1981, which was created by statute reorganizing the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. He assumed senior status on the court on November 19, 2019, after the confirmation of his successor, Robert J. Luck. Tjoflat served as chief judge of the court from 1989 to 1996.

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals

Tjoflat was nominated to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit by President Gerald Ford on November 3, 1975, to a seat vacated by John Bryan Simpson. The U.S. Senate confirmed Tjoflat on November 20, 1975, and he received his commission the next day. Tjofalt's service on the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit terminated on October 1, 1981, due to his reassignment to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Middle District of Florida

Tjofalt was nominated by former President Richard Nixon on October 7, 1970, to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida created by 84 Stat. 294. Tjofalt was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 13, 1970, and he received his commission on October 16, 1970. Tjofalt resigned from the district court on December 12, 1975, upon his elevation to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Tjoflat was succeeded in this position by Judge Howell Melton.

Noteworthy cases

SCOTUS reverses Eleventh Circuit ruling over state-action immunity (2013)

See also: United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit (FTC v. Phoebe Putney Health System)

On February 19, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the judgment of a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit. Judge Gerald Tjoflat issued the opinion of the panel in the case.

Operating under a Georgia law, the city of Albany, Georgia, and Dougherty County, Georgia, jointly created the Hospital Authority of Albany-Dougherty County (Authority). The Authority acquired hospitals in the area, leasing the facilities to two nonprofit corporations: Phoebe Putney Health System (PPHS) and Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital (PPMH). In December of 2010, PPHS presented a plan to the Authority to buy the only remaining hospital in the area, Palmyra Hospital. The Authority approved the plan in April 2011. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) objected, filing a lawsuit against the Authority, PPMH, PPHS, and Palmyra Hospital to prevent the plan from going forward before the FTC could determine if, in acquiring Palmyra Hospital, the Authority did not create a monopoly. The respondents filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the state-action doctrine immunized the Authority from antitrust liability. A federal district court granted the motion to dismiss and a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Gerald Tjoflat, upheld the district court's denial.

Writing for a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor reversed the circuit court's decision, holding that because Georgia did not clearly articulate or affirmatively express a policy allowing hospital authorities to make acquisitions that substantially reduced competition, state-action immunity was not applicable.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit
• United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida

External links

• Judge Tjoflat's biography from the Federal Judicial Center
• Judge Tjoflat's biography from the Eleventh Circuit website

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by: NA-New Seat 94 Stat. 1994	Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals 1981–2019	Succeeded by: Robert J. Luck
Preceded by: John Bryan Simpson	Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals 1975–1981	Succeeded by: NA
Preceded by: NA-New Seat 84 Stat. 294	Middle District of Florida 1970–1975 Seat #6	Succeeded by: Howell Melton