Appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson Role Judge Name John Godbold | Profession Judge Preceded by Richard Taylor Rives | |
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Appointed by Reassigned to Eleventh Circuit pursuant to operation of law Born March 4, 1920
Coy, Alabama ( 1920-03-04 ) Alma mater Auburn University B.S.
Harvard Law School J.D. Died December 22, 2009, Montgomery, Alabama, United States Education Auburn University, Harvard Law School | ||
John Cooper Godbold (March 24, 1920 – December 22, 2009) was a United States Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
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Biography
Born in Coy, Alabama, Godbold received a Bachelor of Science from Auburn University in 1940 and was a Major in the United States Army, Division Artillery Headquarters during World War II, from 1941 to 1946. He received a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1948, and was in private practice in Montgomery, Alabama from 1948 to 1966.
Court of Appeals service
On June 28, 1966, Godbold was nominated by President Johnson to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated by Richard Taylor Rives. Godbold was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 22, 1966, and received his commission the same day. He served as chief judge in 1981, but on October 1, 1981, he was reassigned by operation of law to the newly created United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He served as the first chief judge of that court, from 1981 to 1986, and assumed senior status on October 23, 1987. He served as Director of the Federal Judicial Center from 1987 to 1990, and was a professor of law at the Cumberland School of Law of Samford University beginning in 1990. He continued in senior status for twenty-two years, until his death, in 2009, in Montgomery, Alabama.