Sidney R. Thomas

Last updated
Sidney R. Thomas
Sidney Thomas (cropped).jpg
Thomas in 2010
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Assumed office
May 4, 2023

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]

Supreme Court consideration

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, who was confirmed.

Notable rulings

Thomas authored the opinion in Nadarajah v. Gonzales, [11] 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. [12] [13]

On June 26, 2020, Thomas ruled in favor of the Sierra Club, holding that the Department of Defense's decision to use $2.5 billion in Pentagon funds to fund the border wall violates the Appropriations Clause. [14] On July 31, the ruling was effectively reversed in a 5–4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. [15]

On May 13, 2021, Thomas ruled that an immigrant who arrived in the United States as a child does not need to have lawful permanent residency in order to derive citizenship from a parent who naturalized. [16]

Personal

Thomas is married to Martha Sheehy, a Billings attorney who has practiced law since 1988. [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit</span> Federal appellate court for the western U.S.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marsha Berzon</span> American judge (born 1945)

Marsha Lee Berzon is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

William Alan Fletcher is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Appointed by President Bill Clinton, Fletcher was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 1998. Fletcher taught at the UC Berkeley School of Law from 1977 to 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronald M. Gould</span> American judge (born 1946)

Ronald Murray Gould is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milan Smith</span> American judge (born 1942)

Milan Dale Smith Jr. is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Smith's brother, Gordon H. Smith, was a Republican U.S. Senator from 1997 to 2009. Milan Smith is neither a Republican nor a Democrat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Clifton</span> American judge (born 1950)

Richard Randall Clifton is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandra Segal Ikuta</span> American judge (born 1954)

Sandra Segal Ikuta is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Reinhardt</span> American judge

Stephen Roy Reinhardt was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, with chambers in Los Angeles, California. He was the last federal appeals court judge in active service to have been appointed to his position by President Jimmy Carter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diarmuid O'Scannlain</span> American judge

Diarmuid Fionntain O'Scannlain is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. His chambers are located in Portland, Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim McLane Wardlaw</span> American judge (born 1954)

Kim McLane Wardlaw is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since 1998. She is the first Hispanic American woman to be appointed to a federal appeals court. Wardlaw was considered as a possible candidate to be nominated by Barack Obama to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Ferdinand Francis Fernandez is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara M. Lynn</span> American judge

Barbara M. G. Lynn is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, with chambers in Dallas, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary H. Murguia</span> American judge (born 1960)

Mary Helen Murguia is an American lawyer and jurist serving as Chief United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Her chambers are located in Phoenix, Arizona. She previously served as a U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona from 2000 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morgan Christen</span> American judge (born 1961)

Morgan Brenda Christen is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She previously served as a state court judge on the Alaska Supreme Court from 2009 to 2012 and on the Alaska Superior Court from 2002 to 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacqueline Nguyen</span> American judge (born 1965)

Jacqueline Hong-Ngoc Nguyen is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She previously served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California from 2009 to 2012 and as a California superior court judge from 2002 to 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Morris (judge)</span> American judge (born 1963)

Brian Matthew Morris is an American attorney who serves as the Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Montana. He is a former justice of the Montana Supreme Court, having been elected in 2004. Morris successfully retained his position in the 2012 election. He is also a former fullback for the Stanford Cardinal football team.

Stern v. Marshall, 564 U.S. 462 (2011), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a bankruptcy court, as a non-Article III court lacked constitutional authority under Article III of the United States Constitution to enter a final judgment on a state law counterclaim that is not resolved in the process of ruling on a creditor's proof of claim, even though Congress purported to grant such statutory authority under 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)2(C). The case drew an unusual amount of interest because the petitioner was the estate of former Playboy Playmate and celebrity Anna Nicole Smith. Smith died in 2007, before the Court decided the case, which her estate lost.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelle Friedland</span> American judge (born 1972)

Michelle Taryn Friedland is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

<i>Peruta v. San Diego County</i>

Peruta v. San Diego, 824 F.3d 919, was a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit pertaining to the legality of San Diego County's restrictive policy regarding requiring documentation of "good cause" that "distinguish[es] the applicant from the mainstream and places the applicant in harm's way" before issuing a concealed carry permit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel P. Collins</span> American judge (born 1963)

Daniel Paul Collins is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

References

  1. 1 2 "Senate Confirms Tashima, Thomas to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals". Metropolitan News-Enterprise. January 3, 1996. p. 1.
  2. 1 2 3 Lorna Thackeray, Thomas’ Colleagues Hail Judge’s Credentials, Billings Gazette (April 16, 2010).
  3. ↑ "Clinton Nominates Montana Lawyer for Ninth Circuit Seat". Associated Press. July 19, 1995. p. 1.
  4. ↑ "President Nominates Sidney Thomas to Appeals Court". U.S. Newswire. July 20, 1995.
  5. 1 2 "Thomas, Sidney Runyan - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
  6. ↑ ""Judge From Billings to Lead Federal Appeals Court" Houston Chronicle, November 23, 2014".
  7. ↑ "Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Emeritus Sidney R. Thomas to Take Senior Status" (PDF).
  8. ↑ "Source: Potential High Court Nominee Thomas Would Fit Obama Narrative". The Recorder / Law.com. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  9. ↑ "Source: Judge Sidney Thomas on Supreme Court list". Associated Press. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
  10. ↑ "Obama interviews Thomas, Garland for high court". Associated Press. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  11. ↑ Nadarajah v. Gonzales , 443 F.3d 1069 (9th Cir. 2006).
  12. ↑ Kopel, David. "Ninth Circuit strikes California's restrictive rule against licensed carry of handguns". Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
  13. ↑ "Court Tosses California's Concealed Weapons Rules". Kpbs.org. 13 February 2014. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
  14. ↑ "Court documents" (PDF). cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov. June 26, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Court documents" (PDF). supremecourt.gov. July 31, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Court documents" (PDF). cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov. May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  17. ↑ CLAIR JOHNSON Billings Gazette (3 December 2012). "Obama to appoint 2 federal judges in Montana in 2013". missoulian.com.
Legal offices
Preceded byJudge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
1996–2023		Succeeded by
Preceded byChief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
2014–2021		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.