RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Thomas P. Sullivan has been called to eternal life by the wisdom of God at the age of 91; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of his passing by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, Tom is survived by his wife, Anne Landau, his daughters, Maggie Sullivan Cescolini (Steve Cescolini), Liza Sullivan (Chris Hipschen), his son, Tim Sullivan (Elissa Scrafano), his step-daughter, Mimi Landau, his grandchildren and friends; and
WHEREAS, Tom was born in Evanston, grew up in Glen Ellyn and graduated from Immaculate Conception High School in Elmhurst in 1947; and
WHEREAS, Tom attended Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, and after two years transferred directly to Loyola University College of Law, finishing first in his class with a Juris Doctor degree; and
WHEREAS, Tom served in the Army for two years during the Korean War, where he was stationed first at Fort Bliss in Texas and then in what now is known as Daegu, South Korea; and
WHEREAS, In 1954, Tom was hired as the 30th lawyer at the Chicago law firm Johnson, Thompson, Raymond & Mayer, which later became Jenner & Block; and
WHEREAS, He helped co-found a pro bono program and began representing indigent defendants charged with murder and other violent crimes; and
WHEREAS, In 1963, Thomas became a partner at Jenner and Block; and
WHEREAS, President Jimmy Carter appointed Tom in 1977 to serve as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, upon Senator Adlai Stevenson's recommendation; and
WHEREAS, Tom helped launch Operation Greylord, the federal investigation into Cook County's judicial system that revealed allegations of case-fixing ranging from drunken-driving cases to more serious felony charges resulting in almost 100 people indicted, including 17 judges; and
WHEREAS, After serving four years as the US attorney, Tom returned to Jenner & Block in 1981; and
WHEREAS, Tom argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on two occasions, one of which lead to a landmark 1968 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Witherspoon v. Illinois, prohibiting trial judges and prosecutors from using peremptory challenges to exclude potential jurors because of personal opposition to the death penalty; and
WHEREAS, In 2000, Illinois governor George Ryan appointed Tom to co-chair the Commission on Capital Punishment and advocated nationwide for recording custodial confessions; and
WHEREAS, During his entire career Tom was a tireless advocate for justice and civil rights, and
WHEREAS, Tom was the recipient of numerous awards, some of which include the Thurgood Marshall Award, the John Paul Steven's Award, and the American Bar Association's John Minor Award for his contributions to public service and the community; and
WHEREAS, To his beloved family, Thomas P, Sullivan imparts a legacy of faithfulness, service and dignity; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago City Council, assembled this twenty-third day of June, 2021, do hereby commemorate Thomas P. Sullivan for his grace-filled life and do hereby express our condolences to his family; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Thomas P, Sullivan.