Editing Elbert Tuttle

{{Short description|American judge (1897–1996)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = 
| name                = Elbert Tuttle
| honorific-suffix    = 
| image               = Elbert Tuttle (cropped).jpg
| alt                 = 
| caption             = 
| office              = [[Senior status|Senior Judge]] of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit]]
| term_start          = October 1, 1981
| term_end            = June 23, 1996
| office1             = [[Senior status|Senior Judge]] of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]]
| term_start1         = June 1, 1968
| term_end1           = October 1, 1981
| office2             = Chief Judge of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]]
| term_start2         = 1960
| term_end2           = 1967
| predecessor2        = [[Richard Rives]]
| successor2          = [[John Robert Brown (judge)|John Robert Brown]]
| office3             = Judge of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]]
| term_start3         = August 4, 1954
| term_end3           = June 1, 1968
| nominator3          = 
| appointer3          = [[List of federal judges appointed by Dwight D. Eisenhower|Dwight D. Eisenhower]]
| predecessor3        = ''Seat established by 68 Stat. 8''
| successor3          = [[Lewis Render Morgan]]
| pronunciation       = 
| birth_name          = Elbert Parr Tuttle
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1897|07|17}}
| birth_place         = [[Pasadena, California]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|1996|06|23|1897|07|17}}
| death_place         = [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], U.S.
| death_cause         = 
| height              = 
| mother              = 
| father              = 
| relatives           = 
| education           = [[Cornell University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|AB]], [[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])
| occupation          = 
| profession          = 
| known_for           = 
| salary              = 
| net_worth           = 
| awards              = 
| website             = <!--Embedded templates / Footnotes-->
| footnotes           = 
| allegiance          = [[United States of America]]
| branch              = [[U.S. Army]]
| serviceyears        = 1918-1919, 1941-1946
| battles             = World War I, World War II
| rank                = Brigadier general
| party               = Republican
}}
'''Elbert Parr Tuttle''' (July 17, 1897 – June 23, 1996) was the [[United States federal judge|chief judge]] of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]] from 1960 to 1967, when that court became known for a series of decisions crucial in advancing the [[civil rights]] of [[African American]]s during the [[civil rights movement]]. A [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], he was among the judges that became known as the "[[Fifth Circuit Four]]". At that time, the Fifth Circuit included not only [[Louisiana]], [[Mississippi]], and [[Texas]] (its jurisdiction {{As of|2024|lc=on}}), but also [[Alabama]], Georgia, [[Florida]], and the [[Panama Canal Zone]].

==Education and early career==

Tuttle was born in [[Pasadena, California|Pasadena]], [[California]]. In 1906, his family moved to [[Hawaii]] where he attended [[Punahou School]]. In October 1910, he and his brother Malcolm built and flew the first glider in Hawaii.

Tuttle graduated from [[Cornell University]] in [[Ithaca, New York|Ithaca]], [[New York (state)|New York]] in 1918 with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree.  Tuttle was the editor in chief of [[The Cornell Daily Sun]]. He was also the founder of the Beta Theta chapter of [[Pi Kappa Alpha]] [[Fraternities and sororities|Fraternity]] at Cornell and was a member of the [[Sphinx Head Society]]. He then fought in [[World War I]] in the [[United States Army]] Air Service from 1918 to 1919.

Tuttle received a [[Bachelor of Laws]] from [[Cornell Law School]], where he served as editor-in-chief of the ''[[Cornell Law Review|Cornell Law Quarterly]]'', in 1923.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Elson|first1=Charles M.|title=Remembering Judge Elbert P. Tuttle, Sr.|journal=Cornell Law Review|date=1996|volume=82|issue=1|pages=15–18|url=http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/research/cornell-law-review/upload/Elson.pdf|accessdate=9 February 2018}}</ref> He was a reporter for the ''[[New York Evening World]]'' for several years while attending law school.

==Later career==

After graduating from law school, he moved to [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], to [[Practice of law|practice law]] with the law firm of Sutherland, Tuttle & Brennan from 1923 to 1953 (the firm is now [[Eversheds Sutherland]]). Tuttle worked on tax litigation and also did ''pro bono'' work, including with the [[American Civil Liberties Union]], and took on numerous civil rights cases.

Tuttle served as a [[colonel]] in the [[United States Army]] from 1941 to 1946, in [[World War II]], declining a desk job. He was severely injured after engaging in hand-to-hand combat in Okinawa on the island of [[Ie Shima]]. He was awarded numerous medals for his service including the [[Purple Heart]] with [[Oak leaf cluster|Oak Leaf Cluster]], the [[Legion of Merit]], the [[Bronze Star Medal|Bronze Star]], and the Bronze Service Arrowhead. Tuttle retired as a brigadier general and was often called "The General" by those who worked closely with him. After the War, Tuttle became more involved in politics, working with the Republican Party because of his opposition to [[Racial segregation|segregation]], which he associated mostly with southern [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]]. He was a general counsel for the [[United States Department of the Treasury]] from 1953 to 1954.<ref name="fjc.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/tuttle-elbert-parr|title=Tuttle, Elbert Parr - Federal Judicial Center|website=www.fjc.gov}}</ref>

==Federal judicial service==

Tuttle was nominated by President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] on July 7, 1954, to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]], to a new seat authorized by 68 Stat. 8. He was confirmed by the [[United States Senate]] on August 3, 1954, and received his commission the next day. He served as Chief Judge from 1960 to 1967 and was a member of the [[Judicial Conference of the United States]] from 1961 to 1967. He assumed [[senior status]] on June 1, 1968. He was reassigned by [[operation of law]] to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit]] on October 1, 1981, pursuant to 94 Stat. 1994. His service terminated on June 23, 1996, due to his death in Atlanta.<ref name="fjc.gov"/>

===Georgia gubernatorial election dispute===

In the aftermath of the disputed [[1966 Georgia gubernatorial election]] between Democrat [[Lester Maddox]] and Republican [[Bo Callaway]], Tuttle joined Judge [[Griffin Bell]], later the [[United States Attorney General]], in striking down the Georgia constitutional provision requiring that the legislature chose the governor if no [[general election]] candidate receives a majority of the vote. The judges concluded that a malapportioned legislature might "dilute" the votes of the candidate with a [[Plurality (voting)|plurality]], in this case Callaway. Bell compared legislative selection to the former [[County Unit System]], a kind of [[electoral college]] formerly used in Georgia to select the governor but invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court. Bell and Tuttle granted a temporary suspension of their ruling to permit appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and stipulated that the state could resolve the deadlock so long as the legislature not make the selection. In a five-to-four decision known as ''Fortson v. Morris'', the high court struck down the Bell-Tuttle legal reasoning and directed the legislature to choose between Maddox and Callaway.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fortson v. Morris|url=https://www.oyez.org/cases/1966/800?_escaped_fragment_=&_escaped_fragment_=#!|access-date=2020-10-13|website=Oyez|language=en}}</ref> Two liberal justices, [[William O. Douglas]] and [[Abe Fortas]], had argued against legislative selection of the governor, but the court majority, led this time by [[Hugo Black]] took the [[strict constructionist]] line and cleared the path for Maddox's ultimate election.<ref>Billy Hathorn, "The Frustration of Opportunity: Georgia Republicans and the Election of 1966", ''[[Atlanta History: A Journal of Georgia and the South]]'', XXI (Winter 1987-1988), pp. 46-47</ref>

==Honors==

The [[Elbert P. Tuttle U.S. Court of Appeals Building]] was named in his honor in 1989.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-103/pdf/STATUTE-103-Pg778.pdf | title=Public Law 101-182 - An act to designate the United States Court of Appeals Building at 56 Forsyth Street in Atlanta, Georgia, as the "Elbert P. Tuttle United States Court of Appeals Building"  |access-date=2024-07-14 | website=www.govinfo.gov}}</ref> For his work in civil rights cases in the South, Tuttle received the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] in 1981.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Presidential Medal of Freedom Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony. {{!}} The American Presidency Project|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/presidential-medal-freedom-remarks-the-presentation-ceremony-0|access-date=2021-11-04|website=www.presidency.ucsb.edu}}</ref> He has a star on Atlanta's [[International Civil Rights Walk of Fame]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=International Civil Rights: Walk of Fame - Elbert Tuttle|url=https://www.nps.gov/features/malu/feat0002/wof/Elbert_Tuttle.htm|access-date=2021-11-04|website=www.nps.gov}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of United States federal judges by longevity of service]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*Jack Bass, "[http://www.thenation.com/doc/20040503/bass The 'Fifth Circuit Four']", ''The Nation'', May 3, 2004, p.&nbsp;30-32.
* Anne Emanuel, [http://www.ugapress.org/index.php/books/elbert_parr_tuttle Elbert Parr Tuttle: Chief Jurist of the Civil Rights Revolution], University of Georgia Press, Fall 2011.
* Nina Totenberg, [https://www.npr.org/2011/10/05/140948689/elbert-tuttle-quiet-civil-rights-revolutionary Elbert Parr Tuttle, Quiet Civil Rights 'Revolutionary'], NPR, October 5, 2011.
*[http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?path=/HistoryArchaeology/SunbeltGeorgia/People-7&id=h-2738 New Georgia Encyclopedia: Elbert Parr Tuttle]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070405084657/http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/about/judgetuttle.php Eleventh Circuit profile]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060220134228/http://www.hawaiianhistory.org/moments/tuttle.html Story about the first glider flight in Hawaii]
*[https://rose.library.emory.edu/ Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library], Emory University: [http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/8zzzz Elbert P. Tuttle papers, 1917-1995]

{{s-start}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-bef|before=Seat established by 68 Stat. 8}}
{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]]}}|years=1954–1968}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Lewis Render Morgan]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Richard Rives]]}}
{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Chief Judge of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]]}}|years=1960–1967}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John Robert Brown (judge)|John Robert Brown]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuttle, Elbert}}
[[Category:1897 births]]
[[Category:1996 deaths]]
[[Category:Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges]]
[[Category:Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]]
[[Category:Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit]]
[[Category:United States court of appeals judges appointed by Dwight D. Eisenhower]]
[[Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit]]
[[Category:Punahou School alumni]]
[[Category:Cornell Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Cornell University alumni]]
[[Category:Georgia (U.S. state) Republicans]]
[[Category:United States Army colonels]]