Clair Johnson wrote a fine profile of Judge Sidney Thomas last month, a week before he came chief judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Today, the San Jose Mercury News ran a profile of Thomas, coming to pretty much the same conclusions as the Montanans who know him well—that Thomas will be a relatively low profile but effective leader for the court. In the words of one of his former law clerks: “There’s no drama. He’s not an ideologically driven person. He really cares about the record; we were deciding cases, not making policy.” Continue Reading →
