Sidney R. Thomas

Thomas was born in Bozeman, Montana. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Montana State University in 1975 and his Juris Doctor with honors from the University of Montana School of Law in 1978.[1] He was appointed as a student member of the state Board of Regents of Higher Education in 1974 and reappointed in 1976.[2]

After graduating from law school, Thomas entered private practice at Moulton, Bellingham, Longo & Mather, a law firm in Billings.[2] He became a senior partner there, where he specialized in commercial litigation[2] as well as government, bankruptcy and media law.[3]

Thomas also served as the standing bankruptcy trustee for all bankruptcy cases filed in the Billings Division of the United States District Court for the District of Montana from 1978 to 1981 and served as an adjunct instructor in law at Rocky Mountain College from 1982 to 1995.[4]

On July 19, 1995, President Bill Clinton nominated Thomas to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated by Judge Dorothy Wright Nelson. The United States Senate confirmed Thomas in a voice vote on January 2, 1996. His nomination had been briefly held up by Senator Conrad Burns of Montana, who wanted the nominations of Thomas and A. Wallace Tashima delayed until the passage of a bill to split the Ninth Circuit into two circuits.[1] He received his commission on January 4, 1996. He has served as Chief Judge since December 1, 2014, succeeding Judge Alex Kozinski.[5][6]

Thomas authored the opinion in Nadarajah v. Gonzales,[7] a civil rights case in 2006 on a suspected Tamil Tiger immigrant.

Thomas was in the majority in Peruta v. San Diego, a 2016 ordinance that ruled that San Diego's restrictive gun policy was constitutional.

Judge Thomas is the en banc coordinator for the Ninth Circuit, whose parliamentarian-type duties can affect the outcome of any case. "I've never known one of his rulings to be challenged," the Ninth Circuit's Chief Judge, Alex Kozinski, stated. "I think it's a tribute to his evenhandedness that he's been on the job for many years, and nobody wants a different en banc coordinator."[8]

Senior White House officials listed Thomas among the approximately 10 individuals who were considered to replace retiring United States Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens.

On April 29, 2010, the Associated Press reported that President Barack Obama had interviewed Thomas at the White House.[9][10] Vice President Joe Biden also interviewed him. Obama eventually nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan.

Thomas is married to Martha Sheehy, a Billings attorney who has practiced law since 1988.[11]

• Barack Obama Supreme Court candidates
• MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd.

• Sidney R. Thomas at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Appearances on C-SPAN