Tilman Eugene "Tripp" Self III (born November 25, 1968) is a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia (in case citations, M.D. Ga.) is a United States district court which serves the residents of seventy counties from five divisions from its headquarters in Macon, Georgia. Appeals from c ...

and a former

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

of the

Georgia Court of Appeals The Georgia Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the state of Georgia, United States. The court is a single entity with fifteen judges. The judges are assigned into five divisions of three judges each, with the assignm ...

Education and career

Born on November 25, 1968, Self received a

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business ...

degree in 1990 from

The Citadel The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

, graduating 9th out of his class of 516. He served four years as a Field Artillery Officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. He received a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 1997 from the

University of Georgia School of Law The University of Georgia School of Law (Georgia Law) is the law school of the University of Georgia, a Public university, public research university in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1859, making it one of the oldest American university law ...

. In the summer of 1990 he was a laborer for his father's construction business and in 1996 he was a research assistant to professor Ronald D. Carlson at the

. He engaged in the private practice of law for nine years at the Macon,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

law firm of Sell & Melton, LLP. Self was elected to the Macon County Superior Court from Macon in 2006, beginning service on January 1, 2007, and winning re-election in 2010 and 2014. He was chief judge from January 1, 2014, to January 1, 2017, with his tenure running from the retirement of his predecessor, S. Phillip Brown, to his elevation. On November 9, 2016,

Georgia Governor The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard, when not in federal service, and State Defense Force. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to eithe ...

Nathan Deal John Nathan Deal (born August 25, 1942) is an American politician and former lawyer who served as the 82nd governor of Georgia from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, he previously served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Deal served ...

appointed Self to the

to the seat vacated by Michael P. Boggs, with his term beginning January 1, 2017. David L. Mincey III succeeded him, by appointment, on the Superior Court bench. He became the 83rd judge of the Court of Appeals and ended his tenure on the state bench after being confirmed to the

Federal judicial service

On July 13, 2017, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

nominated Self to serve as a United States District Judge of the

, to the seat vacated by Judge C. Ashley Royal, who assumed senior status on September 1, 2016. On October 4, 2017, a hearing on his nomination was held before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

. On October 26, 2017, his nomination was reported out of committee by a

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...

. On March 1, 2018, the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

invoked cloture on his nomination by an 85–12 vote. On March 5, 2018, his nomination was confirmed by an 85–11 vote. He received his commission on March 7, 2018.

Notable cases

In February 2022, Self issued an

injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...

forbidding the Air Force from requiring an officer to be vaccinated against

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, as against her religious objections. Responding to the Air Force's argument that vaccinations were necessary to promote military readiness, Self questioned the efficacy of the COVID vaccine, asking whether "a COVID-19 vaccine really provide more sufficient protection han "natural immunity" This is especially curious given the number of people who have been and continue to be infected after becoming fully vaccinated and receiving a booster."

Memberships

He has been a member of the

Federalist Society The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies (FedSoc) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative and Libertarianism in the United States, libertarian legal organization that advocates for a Textualism, textualist an ...

since 2008.

References

External links

* * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Self, Tripp 1968 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Georgia Court of Appeals judges Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia Lawyers from Macon, Georgia Superior court judges in the United States The Citadel alumni United States Army officers United States district court judges appointed by Donald Trump University of Georgia School of Law alumni