Peter Thorp Fay (January 18, 1929 – January 31, 2021) was a

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * ...

. He was previously a United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (in case citations, S.D. Fla. or S.D. Fl.) is the federal United States district court with territorial jurisdiction over the southern part of the state of Florida.. Appeal ...

. At the time of his death, he was one of 26 federal judges to serve for fifty years.

Early life and career

Fay was born in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...

, on January 18, 1929. He received his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in 1951 from Rollins College. He served in the

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as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

from 1951 to 1953, before attending the

Fredric G. Levin College of Law The University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law (UF Law) is the law school of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest operating public law school in Florida, and second oldest overall ...

at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, where he received his Juris Doctor in 1956. Fay was in

private practice Private practice may refer to: *Private sector practice **Practice of law In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiati ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

from 1956 to 1970. Fay practiced at Patton & Kanner in 1956, Nichols, Gaither, Green, Frates & Beckham from 1956 to 1961, and Frates, Fay, Floyd & Pearson from 1961 to 1970.

Federal judicial service

Fay was nominated by

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

to the

on October 7, 1970, to a new seat created by 84 Stat. 294. He was

confirmed In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on October 13, 1970, and received his commission three days later. Fay delivered an address to the

Conference of Chief Justices The Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) was created in 1949 after the need for an organization composed of the states' and territories' top jurists was amply discussed at the American Bar Association and other juridical organizations. The first mee ...

in August 1973. He discussed state–federal issues, specifically the proposal of having state and federal judges sitting together on a case in order to save time and judicial resources. Fay's service terminated on October 8, 1976, due to elevation to the Fifth Circuit. Fay was nominated by Gerald Ford to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

on June 11, 1976, to the seat vacated by Judge David W. Dyer. He was confirmed by the Senate on September 17, 1976, and received his commission four days later. Fay was reassigned to the

, to a new seat authorized by 94 Stat. 1994, on October 1, 1981, by

operation of law The phrase "by operation of law" is a legal term that indicates that a right or liability has been created for a party, irrespective of the intent of that party, because it is dictated by existing legal principles. For example, if a person dies wi ...

. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on January 19, 1994. Paul Huck, a fellow judge, recounted how Fay employed "generous wording" in his opinions. This was the case even when he overturned the ruling of a judge from a

lower court A lower court or inferior court is a court from which an appeal may be taken, usually referring to courts other than supreme court. In relation to an appeal from one court to another, the lower court is the court whose decision is being reviewed ...

. Fay also had the "unique ability" of making lawyers content with his judgments, even if they were on the losing side. ''

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'' reported in February 2015, that potential Republican Party 2016 presidential candidate

Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush ...

lobbied his father, George H. W. Bush, to appoint Fay to the Supreme Court of the United States. The younger Bush did this in a letter sent on August 7, 1989.

Later life

Even after becoming a senior, Fay expressed his intention not to retire.

St. Thomas University School of Law Benjamin L. Crump College of Law is one of the graduate schools of St. Thomas University located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The College of Law was founded in 1984. According to its 2017 ABA-required disclosures, 54.7% of the Class of 2017 obta ...

announced in February 2019 that the school was to be renamed in his honor. Several months before his death, he became only the 26th federal judge to serve fifty years in that capacity. The Eleventh Circuit wrote a feature covering Fay in celebration of the milestone. It stated, "Few judges have served our country for so long and in such an honorable and distinguished manner. Judge Fay continues to perform substantial work for the Court of Appeals and the citizens of the Eleventh Circuit."

Personal life

Fay was married to his wife, Pat, for 62 years until his death. They adopted three children from the Catholic Charities Adoption Services. He was talented in sports, and was inducted into the Rollins College Sports Hall of Fame for water skiing, basketball, and football in 1977. Fay died on January 31, 2021, in South

Miami-Dade Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...

, at the age of 92.

References

External links