Liman Fellow Holly Thomas ’04 Confirmed to Ninth Circuit 

Judge Holly A. Thomas ’04, a 2005 Liman Fellow, is now on the federal bench. The U.S. Senate confirmed her nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Jan. 20. 

“As we know from her days as an Arthur Liman Fellow and Assistant Counsel at LDF, and as she has shown throughout her sterling career in civil rights law as well as her judicial and government service, Judge Thomas’s commitment to fairness and equal representation for all is unwavering,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), in a statement issued in response to the confirmation.

While a Liman Fellow from 2005 to 2006, Thomas did innovative work as part of LDF’s initiative to identify people sentenced as juveniles to life without parole. At the time, the number of such people was unknown, and Thomas provided answers. She focused on Mississippi, where she interviewed youth so sentenced and gathered data to understand any racial disparities in such sentencing. She also spoke with attorneys, death penalty advocates, prison officials, and the incarcerated to develop an accurate list of people in Mississippi serving life without parole at that time.

Prior to joining the Ninth Circuit, Thomas was a judge on the California Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles. She has also served as the deputy director of executive programs at the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, as a special counsel to the solicitor general at the New York State Attorney General’s Office, and as a senior attorney in the Appellate Section of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. From 2004 to 2005, she clerked for Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Thomas is the recipient of numerous accolades, including the 2014 Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service and the 2015 John Marshall Award for Providing Legal Advice.

“Holly Thomas has proven herself to be a superb jurist and lawyer. Her many returns to Yale Law School to join in teaching classes and speaking at the Liman Colloquium have demonstrated her breadth of knowledge, her adept analyses of complex legal doctrine, and her generosity of spirit,” said Judith Resnik, Arthur Liman Professor of Law. “Judge Thomas will take the seat on the bench that was occupied by the Honorable William Fletcher, an outstanding member of that court who has now taken senior status. His daughter, Leah Fletcher Wilson, was a Liman Fellow in 2007, and that link reflects the network of former and current fellows, now numbering more than 160, working around the country to contribute to social justice across an array of issues.” 

Liman Fellowships are awarded to Yale Law School graduates to support a year working in public interest law in the United States. These fellowships are a component of Yale Law School’s Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law, whose work also includes research, teaching, and colloquia.