Thomas Henry Figures was an American attorney and judge.
15 Facts About Thomas Figures
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Thomas Figures was the first African American assistant district attorney and assistant United States Attorney from Mobile, Alabama.
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Thomas Figures grew up in Mobile, Alabama, and graduated from Central High School in 1962.
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Thomas Figures attended Alabama State College and transferred to Alabama State University and served as president of the Student Government Association.
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Thomas Figures enrolled in the Master of Business Administration program at Indiana University Bloomington and earned a Juris Doctor from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
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Thomas Figures then returned to Mobile and became the first African American assistant district attorney in Mobile County.
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The FBI was about to close the investigation when Thomas Figures insisted that they reopen it, finding evidence that led them to the two suspects, who were arrested in 1983 and convicted of murder.
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Thomas Figures resigned in 1985 in protest of United States Attorney Jeff Sessions' prosecution of community activists in Perry County, including Albert Turner, for voter fraud.
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Thomas Figures said that Sessions had said that he believed the Ku Klux Klan "was OK until I found out they smoked pot", which Sessions claimed was a joke.
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Thomas Figures testified about his experience working with Sessions in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which rejected the nomination.
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In 1992, Thomas Figures was indicted on one count of bribery for allegedly offering $50,000 and other assistance to a witness in a drug case not to testify that he was working as a defense attorney.
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Thomas Figures alleged that he had been indicted as revenge for his testimony against Sessions; Sessions denied the allegation and transferred the prosecution to the US Department of Justice.
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Thomas Figures appealed the decision to the Alabama Supreme Court and the ruling against him was affirmed.
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In 2007, Sam Jones, the mayor of Mobile, appointed Thomas Figures to serve as a municipal judge.
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Thomas Figures died on January 22,2015, at the age of 70.