First District Court of Appeal Judge Bradford L. Thomas has announced his plans to retire from his position after a distinguished 20-year career.

Appointed by former Florida Republican Gov. Jeb Bush in 2005, Thomas has served as a judge on the First District Court of Appeal for 20 years, and as a chief judge from July 2017 to June 2019. Before being named to the bench, he served in Bush’s administration as the Public Safety Policy Coordinator in the Governor’s office.

Thomas graduated from Florida State University in 1977, and the University of Florida’s College of law with honors in 1982. After graduation, Thomas worked in private practice in Big Pine Key, and served as Assistant Director of the Appellate Advocacy Program at the UF College of Law from 1982 to 1984.

From there, Thomas worked as the Assistant General Counsel to the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation from 1984 to 1987, moving on to work as the Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Appeals Division from 1987 to 1989. Thomas has further served as the Assistant General Counsel to the Florida Parole Commission, and as an Assistant State Attorney in the Second Judicial Circuit.

Thomas has also made some high-profile rulings in recent years. Thomas had disagreed and ultimately ruled against state lawyers working for Gov. Ron DeSantis after they argued a Black-dominated congressional district in Northern Florida — Florida’s 5th Congressional District — was an illegal racial gerrymander, the Miami Times reported in November 2023.

State lawyers argued the district’s boundaries were intentionally distorted so a Black representative would go to Congress. Thomas disagreed and was part of a ruling that found the gerrymandering was political, not racial.

In 2022, Thomas threw out a temporary injunction that would have blocked a Florida law banning abortions from 15-weeks of pregnancy, according to WUWF.

Along with his extensive career experience, Thomas has received accolades such as the Criminal Justice Service Award, and the Florida Sheriffs Association’s Special Recognition Award. Thomas has also been published in the Cumberland Law Review and the Florida Bar Journal.

In his announcement of retirement to DeSantis, Thomas thanked “many colleagues on the court during the past twenty years for their service and dedication to the rule of law,” and specifically thanked former Gov. Bush for his appointment. Thomas officially leaves his role February 28.

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The Legislature passed the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy Act — or “TRUMP Act” —  that would eliminate in-state tuition waivers for undocumented students, create stricter punishments for undocumented immigrants committing crimes and make other reforms.

The House passed the Senate’s version of the bill with an 82-30 vote late Tuesday despite objections from outnumbered Democrats who argued that the bill would hurt hardworking immigrant college students trying to better themselves by getting an education. Republicans vowed the measures would support President Donald Trump’s executive orders cracking down on immigration and would make the community safer. Earlier in the evening, the Senate passed the bill sponsored by Sen. Joe Gruters with a vote of 21-16.

The Legislature’s passage comes during a political dogfight with Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was pushing lawmakers to pass tougher rules. DeSantis called lawmakers back to Tallahassee for a Special Session. Lawmakers snubbed DeSantis by gaveling in and out and then calling their own Special Session on immigration. 

“This bill is the strongest piece of legislation to fight against the mass illegal immigration this country is facing that any state will have passed. It’s not weak. It’s bold. It’s strong,” said a defiant Rep. Lawrence McClure, who sponsored the House version of the bill, before the final vote. “I don’t understand the rhetoric and theater and late-night cable news and all the other nonsense that’s got nothing to do with what’s in the bill.”

The immigration bill also would give mandatory death sentences for any undocumented immigrant convicted of a capital offense, such as murder or rape, as well as reclassification of criminal penalties when a deported individual returns to Florida and commits a crime. Drawing DeSantis’ ire, the bill would also make Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson the state’s new chief immigration officer to work with the federal government on the issue and sets aside $500 million from the general fund for law enforcement agencies.

“If you’re a conservative, you can’t possibly vote no on this bill and say I voted against coordinating law enforcement to help deal with the illegal immigration problem in Florida,” said Rep. Dean Black, a Republican from Jacksonville, during the lengthy and at times fiery debate on the House floor. “Everyone should vote yes on this bill. It’s a good bill. It’s the only one you’ve got. It’s a start.”

But Democrats pleaded to protect the 2,000 Dreamers currently enrolled at Florida’s public universities and state colleges who could get notice their tuition would drastically rise to out-of-state costs before the start of the next school year.

In 2014, the state passed a bi-partisan legislation to extend in-state tuition Dreamers. Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, who was in the Legislature at the time, had been a proponent of it.

“I was so proud sitting up there watching the members of the House actually do the right thing for their constituents,” said Jose Alvarez, a Democrat from Kissimmee. “We cannot attack children. We cannot take those dreams away, those opportunities.”

Alvarez, a Cuban immigrant, argued most Floridians support giving undocumented students in-state tuition.

But Black argued, “You’re literally discriminating against U.S. citizens in favor of illegal aliens.”

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