Robert Randall Thomas is a justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois and a former professional football player.
Education
Thomas graduated from McQuaid Jesuit High School in Rochester, where he excelled both academically and in athletics, lettering in both football and soccer. He attended the University of Notre Dame where he kicked for the football team, including kicking the winning field goal in the 1973 Sugar Bowl victory over Alabama, which clinched the Associated Press National Championship that season for the Fighting Irish.
Career
He has served as the Illinois Supreme Court Justice for the Second District since December 4, 2000 and as Chief Justice from September 6, 2005 to September 5, 2008. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in government in 1974 and was named an Academic All-American in that same year. He went on to have a 12–year career as a kicker in the National Football League.
He received his Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1981.
He was elected circuit court judge in DuPage County in 1988. There, he presided over civil jury trials and was the Acting Chief Judge from 1989 to 1994.
In 1994, Judge Thomas was elected to the Illinois Appellate Court, Second District. In 2007, Justice Thomas was awarded $7 million in a successful defamation of character lawsuit against Bill Page, a former columnist at the Kane County Chronicle.
The justice"s lawyers alleged that Mr.
Page had essentially accused him of official misconduct, a felony, when he wrote in his column that he had traded his vote on a disciplinary case in exchange for political support for his favored candidate in a local judicial race. The case was significant because it prompted an Illinois appellate court to establish a judicial privilege in Illinois, allowing judicial deliberations to be kept private, much like doctor-patient discussions. On January 1, 2011 Justice Thomas authored the Illinois State Supreme Court decision Maksym versus
Chicago Board of Elections that overturned a lower court ruling that Rahm Emanuel was ineligible to run for Mayor of Chicago.
Politics
His political affiliation is Republican.
Membership
Justice Thomas is a member of the DuPage County Bar Association.