by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
His office is part museum, part legal history lesson. Then again, isn’t a museum ideally a reflection of history?
The walls are covered with what seems like dozens of framed degrees, signed letters from some of the country’s highest-ranking officials and photo after photo. There’s former Chief Justice of the United States Warren Berger. Former American Bar Association President Chesterfield Smith is in a few. There is a color portrait done by a former law clerk and literally dozens of head shots of former law clerks. Don’t forget the military letters and commendations. Those are thanks for his service to the Army in the Korean War, where he was a special agent in the counter-intelligence corps.
The bookshelves – and there are plenty of those, as well – hold enough legal reference books to start a small branch law library. One bookcase is devoted entirely to his lifelong association with the Boy Scouts of America. And, these bookshelves didn’t come from Target or some going-out-of-business sell-off.
“They came from an old Customs office in New Orleans. They were made in the late 1800s,” he says matter-of-factly, adding one gentleman once offered to pay $20,000 – for one of them.
Welcome to the world of Judge Gerald Tjoflat, United States District Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. The office is a museum and it is a walk through the past 50 years of the legal profession. Tjoflat graduated from Duke Law School and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1957. Through those 50-plus years, Tjoflat has been a practicing attorney and a judge on just about every level possible. He has even flirted with two separate appointments to the United States Supreme Court.
“I think I was on the short list for a Supreme Court appointment a couple of times,” he said, downplaying the significance of the events under President Ronald Reagan. “I have no idea why I didn’t get it.”
While Tjoflat didn’t get the appointment of a lifetime, he was appointed to the state bench June 18, 1968 to fill the term of Edwin Jones, who had died several days earlier. Later that year in November, Tjoflat ran unopposed. A little less than two years later, Tjoflat was sworn as a federal judge. He’s been there ever since.
In October, Tjoflat will mark his 38th year on the federal bench, making him the longest-tenured active federal judge in the country. Over those nearly four decades, Tjoflat has experienced nearly every facet of law and lawbreakers. From the moonshiners and the transportation of women across state lines for the purpose of prostitution in the 1970s to today’s cocaine, crack and methamphetamine smugglers and Medicare fraud, Tjoflat has presided over hundreds of cases and helped write the modern law books. His name may not appear as an author, but Tjoflat has played a role.
“He’s been a jurist through some of the most difficult and trying times in the country,” said Patricia Fawsett, chief judge for the Middle District of Florida. “He’s a powerful intellect and has led the country, through the courts, in the right direction. He is the perfect marriage between talent and the profession. I hope he never retires.”
He doesn’t have to and doesn’t want to. Tjoflat may enjoy golf and fishing when he can, but one look at his desk is enough to know he isn’t just busy, he has work to do. Due to the nature of his job, Tjoflat travels often to either Atlanta (home of the 11th Circuit), Miami or Montgomery, where he sits on three-member judicial panels. Three times a year, the entire 11th Circuit bench sits en banc (the entire 11th Circuit bench) to rehear cases.
“There are more criminal cases in Miami for obvious reasons,” he said. “It’s much easier to smuggle heroin and cocaine than marijuana. You can’t put much marijuana in a suitcase, but you can put a lot of cocaine in the liner of a suitcase. The couriers bring the drugs into Miami. It also comes in on cruise ships.”
Tjoflat is 78-and-a-half and shows no signs of slowing down.
“I’ll work as long as I can; as long as I am physically able and mentally able,” he said. “There is no mandatory retirement for federal judges.”
Besides, there are a few empty spots on the wall for more law clerk pictures. One in particular is recognizable, even though the photo wasn’t taken yesterday.
“I was his first law clerk and was right out of law school with no real idea of what type of law I wanted to practice and what my ultimate career goals might be,” said Peter Dearing. “The year I spent as his law clerk showed me just how much positive influence a trial might have on society. I know of no one else who so dramatically affects the lives of individuals and the community as a whole.”
Obviously Peter Dearing took Tjoflat’s lessons to heart because he now is Circuit Court Judge Peter Dearing.
“I knew when I left his office that my career goal would be to become a trial judge,” he said. “Twenty years into that career goal, I thank Judge Tjoflat for putting me on this path.
“Judge Tjoflat, most often referred to by his law clerks past and presents as just ‘The Judge,’ treated all of his clerks as if they were part of his family. He still does and has an annual reunion at his home for all his former clerks – now numbering over 100 – and their families.”
The way things are going for Tjoflat, there are going to be many more reunions with many more attendees.