Thomas Aquinas Foran (January 11, 1924 – August 6, 2000) was a

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

best known as the chief

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

in the Chicago Seven

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

trial in which seven

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one juris ...

s, including Jerry Rubin,

Abbie Hoffman Abbot Howard Hoffman (November 30, 1936 – April 12, 1989) was an American political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ("Yippies") and was a member of the Chicago Seven. He was also a leading proponent of the ...

, David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, and

Tom Hayden Thomas Emmet Hayden (December 11, 1939October 23, 2016) was an American social and political activist, author, and politician. Hayden was best known for his role as an anti-war, civil rights, and intellectual activist in the 1960s, becoming an i ...

, were charged with inciting

riots A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

at the

1968 Democratic National Convention The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus making ...

. Foran also prosecuted several police officers caught on film beating the protestors with clubs.

Early life and education

Foran was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, on January 11, 1924. His parents were a physician and former high school teacher. He attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary and St. Ignatius High School and began studying at the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

. He interrupted his college education to serve as a torpedo bomber pilot in the Pacific in World War II. After the war, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

and received his law degree at the University of Detroit School of Law in 1950. He married Jean Foran and the couple had six children.

Legal career

Foran was a senior partner in Foran & Schultz (formerly Foran, Wiss & Schultz), the firm he founded in 1957. The other senior partners were Robert E. Wiss, who died in 1995, and Richard G. Schultz. In private practice, he established a reputation as an expert in eminent domain law, representing the city of Chicago in major public works projects, but he also acted as counsel for property owners. Foran became an assistant corporate counsel for Chicago in 1962.

U.S. Attorney

Foran was appointed a

for the

Northern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (in case citations, N.D. Ill.) is the federal trial court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois. It is one of the busiest federal trial courts in the Uni ...

in 1968 with the support of the Chicago mayor,

Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh ter ...

. He professionalized the office and shifted the office away from patronage. While in this role, he successfully prosecuted more than 150 organized crime figures, including Felix Alderisio, Jackie Cerone, Fiore Buccieri, Richard Cain and William Daddano. In 1969, he was the chief prosecutor of the Chicago Seven

trial which charged seven

s, including Jerry Rubin,

, David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, and

, with inciting

at the

. He was later censured by a United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit panel "for their open hostility toward the defendants and their failure to fulfill 'the standards of our system of justice'".

Post-U.S. Attorney

In the 1970 special election, Foran was a campaign aide for Adlai Stevenson III. In the 1980s, Tom Foran represented former Governor Dan Walker in his bank fraud case.

Later life

He died of cancer in

Lake Forest, Illinois Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,367. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and t ...

, on August 6, 2000.

In popular culture

Harris Yulin Harris Bart Goldberg (November 5, 1937 – June 10, 2025), known professionally as Harris Yulin, was an American actor who appeared in over a hundred film and television series roles, such as '' Night Moves'' (1975; filmed in 1973) with Gene Hack ...

played Foran in the 1987 film '' Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8'', and in the animated 2007 film '' Chicago 10'', Foran's voice was provided by

Nick Nolte Nicholas King Nolte (; born February 8, 1941) is an American actor. Known for his leading man roles in both dramas and romances, he has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. Nol ...

. He was portrayed by Steven Culp in the 2010 film '' The Chicago 8'' and by J. C. MacKenzie in the 2020 film, '' The Trial of the Chicago 7''. Gary Houston played Foran in the 1992 stage adaptation from transcripts titled '' The Chicago Conspiracy Trial'' and produced by Remains Theatre in Chicago.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foran, Tom 1924 births 2000 deaths Loyola University Chicago alumni United States Navy bomber pilots of World War II University of Detroit Mercy alumni Lawyers from Chicago Military personnel from Illinois United States attorneys for the Northern District of Illinois Chicago Seven College of the Holy Cross alumni