Background
Thomas, SIDNEY was born on August 14, 1953 in Bozeman, Montana, United States.
Thomas, SIDNEY was born on August 14, 1953 in Bozeman, Montana, United States.
Montana State University (Bachelor of Arts, 1975). University of Montana (Juris Doctor, cum laude, 1978). Member, United States.
Bankruptcy Trustee Panel, District of Montana, 1979-1983.
Member, Montana State Board of Regents of Higher Education, 1974-1978.
His chambers are located in Billings, Montana. He received his bachelor"s degree from Montana State University in 1975 and his Juris Doctor with honors from the University of Montana School of Law in 1978. After graduating from law school, Thomas entered private practice at Moulton, Bellingham, Longo & Mather, a law firm in Billings, Montana.
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 until 1981 and served as an adjunct instructor in law at Rocky Mountain College from 1982 to 1995.
On July 19, 1995, President Bill Clinton nominated Thomas to a seat on the Ninth Circuit. The United States Senate confirmed Thomas in a voice vote on January 2, 1996.
Thomas"s 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. Judge Thomas authored the opinion in Nadarajah v.
Gonzales, a 2006 civil rights case.
Judge Thomas is the en banc coordinator for the Ninth Circuit, with parliamentarian type duties that 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, has said. "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."
On December 1, 2014, Thomas became Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit, succeeding Chief Judge Kozinski.
Senior White House officials listed Judge Thomas among approximately 10 individuals considered to replace retiring United States. Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens.
On April 29, 2010, the Associated Press reported that President Obama interviewed Thomas at the White House. Vice President Joe Biden also interviewed him.
Obama eventually nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan. Thomas is married to Martha Sheehy, a Billings, Montana attorney who has practiced law since 1988.
He was appointed as a student member of the state Board of Regents of Higher Education in 1974 and reappointed in 1976.