Gordon Jay Quist (born 1937) is a United States federal judge.
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Quist received a B.A. from Michigan State University in 1959 and a J.D. from George Washington University Law School in 1962. He was in private practice in Washington, DC from 1962 to 1964. He was in private practice in Chicago, Illinois from 1964 to 1966 and in Grand Rapids, Michigan from 1967 to 1992.
Quist was a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan. Quist was nominated by President George H.W. Bush on March 20, 1992, to a new seat created by 104 Stat. 5089. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 26, 1992, and received his commission on June 30, 1992. He assumed senior status on January 1, 2006.
In 2009 Quist reversed a ruling he had earlier made denying an American reservist the right to sue for relief after agents of Deutsche Bank had illegally foreclosed on the reservist's house (in violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act). Quist subsequently ruled that punitive damages against Deutsche Bank and its agents were not warranted.[1]
On December 27, 2011, Quist ruled that homeless sex offenders may stay overnight at shelters near schools in Grand Rapids despite a state law prohibiting them from living within 1,000 feet of a school. Quist rejected a request for an injunction to prevent enforcement of provisions of the Sex Offenders Registration Act and student safety zones. He determined that homeless people do not "reside" in emergency shelters if they go there only at night to sleep and have no guarantee of a place to stay on a given night.[2]