Sidney Runyan Thomas (born August 14, 1953) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a U.S. circuit judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

since 1996. He served as the Ninth Circuit's chief judge from 2014 to 2021. His chambers are located in

Billings Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

Early life and education

Thomas was born in Bozeman,

. He received his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...

in 1975 and his

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 ...

with honors from the

University of Montana School of Law The Alexander Blewett III School of Law is a law school at the University of Montana in Missoula. It was established in 1911 and remains Montana's only law school. , the school accepted 83 applicants. The school tied for 103rd in the 2023 '' ...

in 1978. He was appointed as a student member of the state Board of Regents of Higher Education in 1974 and reappointed in 1976.Lorna Thackeray
Thomas’ Colleagues Hail Judge’s Credentials
''

Billings Gazette The ''Billings Gazette'' is a daily newspaper based in Billings, Montana that primarily covers issues in southeast Montana and parts of northern Wyoming. Historically it has been known as the largest newspaper in Montana and is geographically one ...

'' (April 16, 2010).

Professional career

After graduating from

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

, Thomas entered private practice at Moulton, Bellingham, Longo & Mather, a

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...

. He became a senior partner there, where he specialized in commercial litigation as well as government, bankruptcy and media law. 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 United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

from 1978 to 1981 and served as an adjunct instructor in law at

Rocky Mountain College Rocky Mountain College (Rocky or RMC) is a private college in Billings, Montana. It offers 50 liberal arts and professional majors in 24 undergraduate disciplines. In fall 2013, the college had 1069 enrolled students. It is affiliated with the ...

from 1982 to 1995.

Federal judicial service

On July 19, 1995, President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

nominated Thomas to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Dorothy Wright Nelson Dorothy Wright Nelson (born September 30, 1928) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Education and career Born in San Pedro, California, Wright received an Artium Baccalaureus degr ...

. His nomination had been briefly held up by

U.S. Senator 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 powe ...

Conrad Burns Conrad Ray Burns (January 25, 1935 – April 28, 2016) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Montana and later was a lobbyist. He was only the second Republican popularly elected to represent Montana in the Senat ...

of Montana, who wanted the nominations of Thomas and

A. Wallace Tashima Atsushi Wallace Tashima (born June 24, 1934) 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 Distric ...

delayed until the passage of a bill to split the Ninth Circuit into two circuits. 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 ...

confirmed Thomas 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 January 2, 1996. He received his commission on January 4, 1996. He served as

Chief Judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...

from December 1, 2014 to December 1, 2021. On March 29, 2022, he announced his intent to assume

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 ...

upon confirmation of a successor.

En banc coordinator

Judge Thomas is the

en banc In law, an en banc session (; French for "in bench"; also known as ''in banc'', ''in banco'' or ''in bank'') is a session in which a case is heard before all the judges of a court (before the entire bench) rather than by one judge or a smaller ...

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 Alex Kozinski (; born July 23, 1950) is a Romanian-American jurist and lawyer who was a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1985 to 2017. He was a prominent and inf ...

, 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."

Supreme Court consideration

Senior White House officials listed Thomas among the approximately 10 individuals who were considered to replace retiring

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

Associate Justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some state ...

John Paul Stevens John Paul Stevens (April 20, 1920 – July 16, 2019) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1975 to 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the second-oldes ...

. On April 29, 2010, the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

reported that

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

had interviewed Thomas at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Joe Biden also interviewed him. Obama eventually nominated Solicitor General

Elena Kagan Elena Kagan ( ; born April 28, 1960) is an American lawyer who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 10, 2010, and has served since August 7, 2010. Kagan ...

, who was confirmed.

Notable rulings

Thomas authored the opinion in ''Nadarajah v. Gonzales'', a civil rights case in 2006 on a suspected

Tamil Tiger The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

immigrant. Thomas was in the majority in ''

Peruta v. San Diego ''Peruta v. San Diego'', 824 F.3d 919 (9th Cir. 2016), 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 ...

'', a 2016 ordinance that ruled that

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

's restrictive gun policy was constitutional. On June 26, 2020, Thomas ruled in favor of the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...

, 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. On July 31, the ruling was effectively reversed in a 5–4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. 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.

Personal

Thomas is married to Martha Sheehy, a

attorney who has practiced law since 1988.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Sidney Runyan 1953 births Living people 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Montana State University alumni People from Bozeman, Montana Rocky Mountain College faculty United States court of appeals judges appointed by Bill Clinton University of Montana alumni