Robert Smith Vance (May 10, 1931 – December 16, 1989) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He later the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in 1981 until his assassination in 1989.
Robert Smith Vance
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
Born 1931 in Talladega, AL
Died 1989 in Mountain Brook, AL
FJC ID: 2452
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 10/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 191/year
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals · 1977–1981Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals · 1981–1989
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
- Private practice, Birmingham, Alabama1956–1977
Lecturer · 1967–1969
JAG CorpsU.S. Army first lieutenant · 1952–1954- U.S. Army Reserve lieutenant colonel (retired)
Appointments
1977–1981 · Appointed by Jimmy Carter (Democratic)Term ended: Reassignment
Education
LL.M. · 1955
J.D. · 1952- University of AlabamaB.S. · 1950