Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will convene in a special session this week to mark the elevation of new Chief Judge Sidney R. Thomas of Billings, Mont.
Thomas, who assumed his new duties Monday, succeeds former Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of Pasadena, Calf., who had held the office since 2007.
A ceremonial passing of the gavel to mark the change in court leadership will be held Friday in San Francisco. The ceremony will be video streamed live for viewing via the Internet at 2 p.m. For more information on event streaming, click here.
By law, selection of the chief judge of a federal circuit or district court is based on seniority and age. The most senior active judge under the age of 65 is eligible to serve as chief judge for a term of up to seven years.
As chief judge, Thomas, 61, assumes a variety of administrative responsibilities. In addition to hearing cases, he will chair two judicial policy-making bodies, the Executive Committee of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit, and represent the Ninth Circuit at biannual meetings of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the judiciary’s national governing body. The chief judge also presides when an 11-judge en banc court is convened to resolve cases posing intra-circuit legal conflicts or to consider other matters deemed to be of exceptional importance.
Nominated by former-President Bill Clinton, Thomas was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Jan. 2, 1996. He maintains chambers in Montana but travels extensively for oral arguments and other court business. In addition to hearing cases, he serves as the en banc coordinator and death penalty coordinator for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and serves on both the Ninth Circuit Information Technology Committee and the Committee on Information Technology of the U.S. Judicial Conference.
Thomas received his B.A. from Montana State University in 1975 and his J.D. from the University of Montana School of Law, graduating with honors in 1978. Prior to coming onto the federal bench, he had been in private practice in Billings from 1978 to 1995. He also was as an adjunct instructor of law at Rocky Mountain College in Billings from 1982 to 1995.
Thomas is the Ninth Circuit’s 11th chief judge and the third to hail from Montana.
The Ninth Circuit encompasses Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, the U.S. Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. It includes the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the federal trial and bankruptcy courts in the 15 judicial districts within the circuit.