Who appointed Sidney Runyan Thomas?

President William J. Clinton appointed Sidney Runyan Thomas to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1996.

Was Sidney Runyan Thomas appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Sidney Runyan Thomas was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Sidney Runyan Thomas's confirmation vote?

Sidney Runyan Thomas was confirmed by voice vote on January 2, 1996. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Ninth Circuit / Appointed 1996 / Senior status since 2023

Sidney Runyan Thomas

Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1996 and confirmed by voice vote, Sidney Runyan Thomas is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He earned a law degree from University of Montana School of Law in 1978. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1953 · age 73
Appointed by: William J. Clinton, 1996
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Montana State 1975 · University of Montana Law 1978
Succeeded: Dorothy Wright Nelson
Succeeded by: Anthony Devos Johnstone

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1996	Ninth Circuit succeeded Dorothy Wright Nelson	Clinton (D)	Voice vote

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.

Confirmation vote

Voice vote

The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.

Education

Montana State University	B.A.	1975
University of Montana School of Law	J.D.	1978

Judicial Record

In our data, Thomas authored 28 published opinions for the court (2009–2012). Most cited: Maya v. Centex Corp. (547 citations).

Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.

Selected opinions

Year	Case	Citation	Cited
2011	Maya v. Centex Corp.	658 F.3d 1060	547
2011	Walls v. Central Contra Costa Transit Authority	653 F.3d 963	313
2010	Krainski v. Nevada Ex Rel. Board of Regents	616 F.3d 963	276
2011	United States v. Richey	632 F.3d 559	201
2010	Lands Council v. McNair	629 F.3d 1070	99
2011	Singh v. Holder	658 F.3d 879	95
2011	Washington v. Chimei Innolux Corp.	659 F.3d 842	89
2009	Phillips v. Hust	588 F.3d 652	80
2010	Peterson v. Islamic Republic of Iran	627 F.3d 1117	74
2011	United States v. Dann	652 F.3d 1160	66
2010	Coppinger-Martin v. Solis	627 F.3d 745	60
2011	Reina-Rodriguez v. United States	655 F.3d 1182	48
2010	United States v. Bush	626 F.3d 527	43
2011	Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. v. Mortgage Guaranty Insurance	642 F.3d 849	38
2010	United States v. Krane	625 F.3d 568	32

Showing the 15 most-cited of 28 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.

Questions & answers

Who appointed Sidney Runyan Thomas?: President William J. Clinton appointed Sidney Runyan Thomas to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1996.
Was Sidney Runyan Thomas appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Sidney Runyan Thomas was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Sidney Runyan Thomas's confirmation vote?: Sidney Runyan Thomas was confirmed by voice vote on January 2, 1996. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court is Sidney Runyan Thomas on?: Sidney Runyan Thomas is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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30 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).