John C. Godbold of Montgomery, a longtime federal appeals court judge who held a unique distinction in American jurisprudence, died Dec. 22. He was 89.
Godbold, appointed to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966, became chief judge of the circuit in 1981. When the region formerly covered by the circuit was divided and the new Eleventh Circuit was created, Godbold became chief judge of the new circuit, thus making him the only person ever to serve as chief judge of two different federal circuits.
In 1986, Godbold left the court to become director of the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, the training and research arm of the federal court system. He later returned to the Eleventh Circuit on senior status and also served as a law professor at Cumberland School of Law.
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