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about judge Deborah Thomas |
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II was born and reared in
the City of Detroit. I am the middle child of three
sisters. My father drove a truck for the U S. Postal
Service. My dad passed away when I was 10 years of age.
My mother worked in a laundry prior to becoming a
licensed practical nurse. Educated in the Detroit Public
School System, I attended Alger and White Orthopedic
Elementary Schools. Having contracted polio at age 3, I
was taught by the public school visiting teachers when
confined to hospitals and at home. My middle school
years were spent at Sherrod Middle School. Cass
Technical High School is my almamater. After graduating
from Cass with a diploma in Clothing and Textile, I was
accepted at Western Michigan University located in
Kalamazoo Michigan.
Studying at Western from l970 to l973, I earned my
Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Education.
While attending Western, I was elected dorm president at
Draper Hall, served on the governing board of the
Student Union Board, and volunteered with several campus
projects.
Upon leaving Kalamazoo, I returned to Detroit and began
my teaching career with the Detroit Public School
System. The teaching field being over crowded at the
time, I began studies at the University of Detroit in
the field of Criminal Justice and Family Counseling in
1974. I was awarded a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice
in l976 but not before leaving Detroit for Valparaiso
Indiana.
In l975 I was recruited by the good people of Valparaiso
University. They were recruiting young people from
economically depressed areas throughout the United
States to afford them an opportunity to obtain a legal
education. The goal was to train future leaders who
would return to neighborhoods and provided legal
services to their communities. I attended Valparaiso
University School of law from 1974 until l977 when I
graduated. While attending Valpo, I participated in the
Moot Court competition, Law Review, and served as the
National Vice President of the Black American Law
Students Association during my senior year. In my
capacity as national vice president, I authored the
Rules and Procedures for the Fredrick Douglas Moot Court
which was established as BALSA‘s official national moot
court competition the year before by now Judge Cynthia
Stephens. Additionally, I conducted and published a
historical/analytical study of Affirmative Action and
the experiences of Black Law Students. This scholarly
work became my Masters thesis at the University of
Detroit.
Earning my way through law school, I worked summer
vacations with the City of Detroit summer lunch program.
Employed with one of the food providers, International
Telephone and Telegram, I worked both as the Community
Liaison and Director of Personnel. My junior year of law
school I also worked at the Legal Defenders Office of
Detroit part-time while studying for my Masters Degree
at U of D.
Howard University School of Law, like Valparaiso
University School of Law, had a program designed to
provide legal services to socially, and economically,
depressed communities in the l970s. The Reginald Heber
Smith Community Lawyer National Fellowship Program
specifically trained attorneys for placement throughout
the country, to service those with the greatest unmet
needs and least amount of resources. I was awarded a
fellowship upon graduating from Valparaiso and thus
began by full time legal career.
The Reggie program placed me close to home at the
Oakland County Legal Aid Society with offices in both
Pontiac and Royal Oak Township, in Oakland County
Michigan. Working at Legal Aid I produced a one half day
program centering on the legal rights and
responsibilities of youth, assisted the Native American
Community in securing artifacts discovered in Rochester
Michigan during the expansion the campus of Oakland
University, managed a pro per divorce program, and met
with various clients with diverse legal needs. I
remained with legal for over two years before going to
work for the UAW Legal Services Plan, Chrysler Division.
At UAW Legal Services, I assisted in setting up the
family division, real estate division and the bankruptcy
division for services to members of the UAW.
Little more than two years later, I went to work with
Michigan Employment Security Commission (M.E.S.C.)
Michigan Department of Labor. Employed as an
Administrative Law Examiner, I represented the
Commission at administrative hearings, drafted proposed
legislation, and worked in the implementation of the
Trade Retraining Act (TRA), a federal established to
provide employment training of displaced auto workers.
During those same years (1980-1983) I was an instructor
with the American Institute for Para Legal Studies,
teaching family law, real estate law, and legal writing
and research.
In 1983, I began work for the Southeast Michigan
Transportation Authority (S.E.M.T.A.), the regional
public transportation bus service for communities
surrounding the City of Detroit. As Assistant General
Counsel I provided legal services in labor law, civil
rights litigation, and advised in public administration
practices, policies and procedures.
I left this employer to begin my own legal practice
which was in the field of family law, juvenile law,
probate law, criminal law and general civil law. During
these years I served as a Mediator with the Wayne County
Probate Court and ran for election to the Detroit City
Council. The 1984 city council race was my first
campaign for public office.
The citizens of Wayne County elected me to the Wayne
County Circuit Court in 1994 were I continue to serve.
In 2004, I ran for Justice of the Michigan Supreme
Court. With no more than 7 weeks to campaign and a
budget of little more than $28,000.00 I received
1,261,635 votes, placing third in a two seat race
loosing by little more than twelve thousand votes.
I am not all work and no play. I enjoy fishing and have
since early childhood. Sewing is so much fun. I began
hand sewing clothes for my dolls as a child and grew up
to sew and tailor by the time I left Cass tech.
Gardening makes me smile. I have a perennial garden for
both sun and shade. Volunteering in my community began
as a Brownie continued as a Girl Scout, T-teen, and
today among other groups I am an active member of The
Improved Benevolent Protective Order of the Elks of The
World.
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