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 United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

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 presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of the

Georgia Court of Appeals The Georgia Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the U.S. state of Georgia. History Founding of the court The genesis of the Court of Appeals began with a report by the State Bar of Georgia in 1895, suggesting that the G ...

Education and career

Born on November 25, 1968, Self received a

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

degree in 1990 from

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a Public college, public United States senior military college, senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one ...

, 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 land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. He received a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

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 among the oldest American university law sc ...

. 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 Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

law firm of Sell & Melton, LLP. Self was elected to the

Georgia Superior Court The Superior Court is Georgia's general jurisdiction trial court. It has exclusive, constitutional, authority over felony cases, divorce, equity and cases regarding title to land. The exclusive jurisdiction of this court also covers such matters a ...

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, Governor

Nathan Deal John Nathan Deal (born August 25, 1942) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 82nd governor of Georgia from 2011 to 2019. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party in 1992 a ...

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 served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

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

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 the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...

. 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 "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 responding vo ...

. On March 1, 2018, 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 ...

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 forbidding the Air Force from requiring an officer to be vaccinated against COVID-19, 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 (abbreviated as FedSoc) is an American conservative and libertarian legal organization that advocates for a textualist and originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Headquartered ...

since 2008.United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees: Tilman Eugene Self, III

References

External links

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