Elbert Parr Tuttle (July 17, 1897 – June 23, 1996) was the 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 Americans during the civil rights movement. A Republican from 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 2025), but also Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and the Panama Canal Zone.
Elbert Parr Tuttle
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
Chief Judge — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Born 1897 in Pasadena, CA
Died 1996 in Atlanta, GA
FJC ID: 2427
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 62/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 516/year
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals · 1954–1981Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals · 1981–1996
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- Judicial Conference of the United StatesMember · 1961–1967
U.S. Department of the TreasuryGeneral counsel · 1953–1954- Private practice, Atlanta, Georgia1923–1953
U.S. Army colonel1941–1946- Air ServiceU.S. Army private · 1918–1919
Appointments
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth CircuitChief Judge1954–1981 · Appointed by Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican)Term ended: Reassignment
Education
- Cornell University Department of LawLL.B. · 1923
- Cornell UniversityA.B. · 1918