John Cooper Godbold (March 24, 1920 – December 22, 2009) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
John Cooper Godbold
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
Chief Judge — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Born 1920 in Coy, AL
Died 2009 in Montgomery, AL
FJC ID: 871
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 17/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 167/year
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals · 1966–1981Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals · 1981–2009
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
Professor of law · 1990–2009
Director · 1987–1990- Judicial Conference of the United StatesMember · 1981–1986
- Board member · 1976–1981
- Private practice, Montgomery, Alabama1948–1966
Division Artillery HeadquartersU.S. Army major · 1941–1946
Appointments
1981–2009 (None (reassignment))Term ended: Death
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth CircuitChief Judge1966–1981 · Appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic)Term ended: Reassignment
Education
J.D. · 1948- Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University)B.S. · 1940