Circuit Judge Profiles

This page will be periodically updated to contain short biographical sketches of the Judges on the Court, along with information about their jurisprudence, personalities, and philosophies that might not be readily apparent to the average reader.

For general information about each judge's background, date of appointment, and appointing president, both the Eleventh Circuit's own page and Wikipedia's Eleventh Circuit page are helpful.

For information about each judge, click on the Judge's names below:

Chief Judge
Edward Carnes

Active Judges (in order of seniority)
Gerald Tjoflat
Frank Hull
Stanley Marcus
Charles Wilson
William Pryor
Beverly Martin
Adalberto Jordan

Senior Judges (in order of appointment)
James Hill
Peter Fay
Phyllis Kravitch
R. Lanier Anderson III
J. L. Edmondson
Emmett Cox
Joel Dubina
Susan Black

Ideological Scales of the Eleventh Circuit's Judges

Here's a rough ranging of the judges from most conservative judge to least conservative judge, which includes the court's current senior judges. It should be noted that the scaling is not continuous; it is a measure of the conservatism of the Eleventh Circuit that even the twelfth judge on this list, Judge Anderson, is a moderate, or a moderate liberal.  Judge Wilson is moderately liberal to liberal. Judge Martin is very liberal; Judge Kravitch is liberal. Judge Jordan has been moderately liberal to liberal so far, but that may change as he gets more experience. 

Meanwhile, on the other end of the Court, Pryor and Carnes are very conservative, as are Cox and Edmondson.  Dubina is conservative, but not reflexively so.  Tjoflat is very conservative on most issues, but has some odd quirks on a few issues that put him into just the plain conservative category.

In the middle of the court, Judge Hull might be classified as slightly conservative, along with Judges Hill and Fay, although on criminal law and habeas issues Judge Hull is to the right of those judges. Judge Hill is a relatively solid conservative, but very disapproving of the Court's current habeas jurisprudence.  Judge Fay is a judge's judge--he displays very little partisan leanings, but he shades a bit to the right.

Judges Marcus and Black are what might be called true moderates.  Both will incline very slightly to the right on habeas and criminal law issues, less so on other matters, but neither has any liberal leanings.  Judge Anderson is very slightly liberal, although he is also well-described as a moderate.

The true "liberal" wing of the court doesn't begin until Judge Wilson is reached, and, as described above, he has been typically a moderate liberal.  Judge Kravitch is liberal, but not extremely so.  Judge Martin is very liberal, and, with the departure of Judge Barkett, is the most liberal judge on the court by far.

Ideology Scales from Conservative to Liberal of All Senior and Active Judges

1. William Pryor
2. Edward Carnes
3. Emmett Cox
4. J.L. Edmondson
5. Joel Dubina
6. Gerald Tjoflat
7. Frank Hull
8. James Hill
9. Peter Fay
10. Susan Black
11. Stanley Marcus
12. R. Lanier Anderson
13. Charles Wilson
14. Adalberto Jordan
15. Phyllis Kravitch
16. Beverly Martin

Ideology Scales from Conservative to Liberal of All Active Judges

1. William Pryor
2. Edward Carnes
3. Gerald Tjoflat
4. Frank Hull
5. Stanley Marcus
6. Charles Wilson
7. Adalberto Jordan
8. Beverly Martin