Early life and education

Born in Rochester, New York, 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 University of Alabama, which clinched the AP National Championship that season for Notre Dame. He received his B.A. degree in Government in 1974 and was named an Academic All-American in that same year.

He received his J.D. degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1981.

Athletic career

Thomas had a twelve-year career as a kicker in the National Football League.

He played for the Chicago Bears (1975-1982 and 1983-1984), the Detroit Lions (1982), the San Diego Chargers (1985), and the New York Giants (1986).

Legal career

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.

Ruling on Rahm Emanuel ballot eligibility

On January 1, 2011, Justice Thomas authored the Illinois State Supreme Court decision Maksym v. Chicago Board of Elections that overturned a lower court ruling that Rahm Emanuel was ineligible to run for Mayor of Chicago.

Honors and awards

In April 1996, Thomas was inducted into the Academic All-American Hall of Fame. In January 1999, he received the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award.

Justice Thomas is a member of the DuPage County Bar Association.

Defamation of character lawsuit

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. Thomas' lawyers alleged that Page had essentially accused him of official misconduct, a felony. Page wrote in his column that Thomas 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.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]