Robert Platt, A Iowa federal judge He died Wednesday of cardiac arrest after serving as a judge for more than two decades. He is 78 years old.

his son Michael Pratt told the New York Times His father died of a heart attack while at the gym.

Platt was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa by former President bill clinton In 1997, he served on the federal courts for more than 26 years.

The Iowa State Bar said he retired in 2023 and had presided over cases including sentencing decisions later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in Gower v. United States.

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The Honorable Robert Pratt, retired Senior U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Iowa, speaks at the World Food and Music Festival naturalization ceremony at Westgate Park in Des Moines, Iowa, on August 22, 2025. (Elton Breckinridge/The Register/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Pratt’s obituary described him as a man who “supported the underprivileged and the unsung” during his career in public service.

In 2009, he helped launch the annual Independence Day event naturalization ceremony Held to coincide with an Iowa Cubs baseball game, it later hosted dozens of ceremonies welcoming new U.S. citizens.

Platt has previously come under scrutiny for his public criticism of the president Donald Trump In a series of pardons in 2020, he later acknowledged that the comments were inappropriate for a federal judge.

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Judge Robert W. Platt speaks during the Iowa Cubs’ annual induction ceremony at Princip Park in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 4, 2019. (Olivia Sun/The Register via Imagn Images)

during call Interviewed by APPlatt took aim at Trump’s pardons of John Tate and Jesse Benton, two former top aides to Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign.

“It’s not surprising that a criminal like Trump would pardon other criminals,” he said. “But apparently to be pardoned one has to be a Republican, a convicted child murderer or a turkey.”

Associated Press report The remarks prompted a judicial misconduct complaint against then-Chief Judge Lavinsky Smith of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In a letter to Smith on April 16, 2021, Platt apologized for the remarks and said he accepted the conclusion that they could be construed as “inappropriate partisan rhetoric.”

Eighth Circuit Chief Judge Lavinsky Smith introduces U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch during the Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference on August 17, 2018, in Des Moines, Iowa. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Register via Imagn Images)

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“I acknowledge that these remarks were wrong and I regret the embarrassment they caused to my court and the entire judiciary. I am deeply sorry for these remarks and apologize for my remarks,” Platt wrote. “I also want to reaffirm my commitment to the impartial administration of justice in full compliance with the Code of Conduct for American Judges.”

He is survived by his wife Rosemary, three children, a stepdaughter and seven grandchildren.