William L. Thomas (born 1967) is a circuit judge for
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
's Eleventh Judicial Circuit and former nominee for
United States district judge
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...
for the
.
Background
Thomas was raised by his mother, who raised ten children on her own after his father's death in a car accident.
Thomas grew up with his family on welfare and living in housing projects in the small town of Republic, in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
The housing project (Dunlap Creek Village Projects) was located in a neighborhood marred by crime and violence. Thomas' mother emphasized sacrifice and education and helped instill in Thomas a strong desire to earn an education and realize his goals in life.
Thomas earned a
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
Washington & Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...
in 1991 and a
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 ...
from
Temple University Beasley School of Law in 1994.
He became an assistant state public defender in
Miami-Dade County
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...
in 1994 and was selected to become an assistant federal public defender in the Southern District of Florida in 1997 where he represented defendants in all types of complex cases (including drug conspiracy, Hobbs Act robbery and fraud) in federal court.
Judicial service
In 2005, Thomas was elected to be a judge on the
Miami-Dade Circuit Court, where he has presided over both civil cases (including complex medical malpractice, business litigation, tobacco litigation, eminent domain, wrongful death) and criminal cases (including death penalty, murder, robbery, rape).
In the 2011 Judicial Elections, despite other incumbent judges drawing opposition, Judge Thomas was re-elected without opposition.
Failed federal district court nomination
On November 14, 2012, President
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 ...
nominated Thomas to a seat on the
to replace U.S. District Judge
Adalberto Jordan
Adalberto Jose Jordan (born December 7, 1961) is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of L ...
whose nomination to the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district court, U.S. district courts:
* Unite ...
was approved in February 2012. Thomas is openly gay. If confirmed, Thomas will be the first out gay African American man to serve as a federal judge.
On January 2, 2013, his nomination was returned to the President, due to the sine die adjournment of the Senate.
On January 3, 2013, he was renominated to the same office. On September 19, 2013, Senator
Marco Rubio
Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida Hous ...
announced that he would not return his blue slip for Thomas, effectively preventing the possibility of a hearing or confirmation vote, even though Rubio had suggested Thomas for the post in the first place. Thomas' nomination was returned to the President due to the
sine die
In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle. The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side that is oppo ...
adjournment of Congress on January 3, 2014. President Obama has decided not to submit Thomas' nomination a third time.
In May 2021, Thomas was once again considered for an appointment to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, applying for and securing an interview with Representative
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Deborah Wasserman Schultz ( née Wasserman; born September 27, 1966) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from , first elected to Congress in 2004. A member of the Democratic Party, she is a former chair of the Democra ...
's Florida Federal Judicial Nominating Commission for the Southern District of Florida. However, it was announced later in the month that he had ultimately not been among the finalists whose names were submitted for recommendation by Wasserman Schultz to President
Joe Biden for nomination to one of the two open seats that were open on the court at the time.
See also
*
Barack Obama judicial appointment controversies
U.S. President Barack Obama nominated over 400 individuals for federal judgeships during his presidency. Of these nominations, Congress confirmed 329 judgeships, 173 during the 111th & 112th Congresses and 156 during the 113th and 114th Congress ...
*
List of LGBT jurists in the United States
This is a list of openly LGBT Americans who are or were judges, magistrate judges, court commissioners, or administrative law judges in the United States and its federal district and territories. If known, it will be listed if a judge has served o ...
References
External links
Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida: William Thomas*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, William L.
1967 births
Living people
21st-century African-American lawyers
20th-century African-American lawyers
African-American judges
American gay men
Florida state court judges
African-American LGBT people
LGBT judges
American LGBT lawyers
LGBT people from Pennsylvania
Public defenders
Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni
Washington & Jefferson College alumni
21st-century American judges