Legislation Details

Record #: R2021-687   
Type: Resolution Status: Adopted
Intro date: 6/25/2021 Current Controlling Legislative Body:
Final action: 6/25/2021
Title: Tribute to late Thomas P. Sullivan
Sponsors: Burke, Edward M.
Attachments: 1. R2021-687.pdf
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 ...

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