{{Short description|American judge}} {{More citations needed|date=June 2023}} {{infobox officeholder | name = Thomas Joseph Moyer | image = Thomas J. Moyer at BGSU.jpg | caption = Moyer in 2008 | office = Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court | term_start = January 1, 1987 | term_end = April 2, 2010 | preceded = Frank Celebrezze | succeeded = Eric Brown | party = Republican | birth_date = {{birth date|1939|04|18}} | birth_place = Sandusky, Ohio, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2010|04|02|1939|04|18}} | death_place = Columbus, Ohio, U.S. | resting_place = Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, Ohio<ref name=ohiojudicial>{{cite web | url= http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/SCO/formerjustices/bios/moyer.asp |publisher=The Supreme Court of Ohio & The Ohio Judicial System |title=Thomas Joseph Moyer}}</ref> | alma_mater = {{plainlist | *Ohio State University (BA, JD) }} | spouse = Mary Francis Moyer | children = 5 }}
'''Thomas Joseph Moyer''' (April 18, 1939 – April 2, 2010<ref>{{cite web |author=Friday April 2, 2010 7:45 PM |url=http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/04/02/moyer-dies.html?sid=101 |title=Notice of death of Thomas J. Moyer |publisher=Dispatch.com |date=2010-04-02 |accessdate=2014-01-07 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100405014831/http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/04/02/moyer-dies.html?sid=101 |archivedate=April 5, 2010 }}</ref>) was an American jurist and the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court from 1987 to 2010. A member of the Republican Party, he formerly served as a justice of the 10th district of the Ohio District Courts of Appeals from 1979 to 1987. The Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center, headquarters of the Ohio Supreme Court, was named in his honor in 2011.
==Early life== Moyer was born in Sandusky, Ohio, on April 18, 1939. He attended Sandusky High School and went on to receive both his undergraduate and law degrees from the Ohio State University. He served as chairman of the board of directors of the Ohio State Alumni Association, as well as the board of trustees of Franklin University.<ref name="bio">{{cite web|url=http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/SCO/justices/moyer/default.asp |title=Chief Justice Moyer's official biography |publisher=Supremecourt.ohio.gov |date= |accessdate=2014-01-07}}</ref> Moyer was married and lived in Columbus.
==Career== From 1979 to 1987, Moyer served on the Tenth District Court of Appeals for Ohio, which covers Franklin County. Prior to his appointment, he served as the president of the Columbus Board of Education. During his tenure there, the board found itself in the middle of desegregation fights, chronicled in the book ''Getting Around Brown''. He also served for four years as an executive assistant to Governor Jim Rhodes and eight years in private practice in Sandusky.<ref name="bio"/> He was first elected to the Ohio Supreme Court in 1987 and was re-elected in 1992, 1998, and 2004.
Moyer presided over the ''DeRolph'' decision dealing with school funding, as well as the late 1990s' legal battle over tort reform. {{citation needed|date=April 2010}}
Although a Republican, Moyer had a strong belief in the principles of ''stare decisis''. In 2001, he created a task force on guardians ad litem in Ohio. In 2004, when the court moved into new quarters, some controversy ensued over the cost involved. On May 15, 2004, the building was dedicated by U.S. Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |before=Frank Celebrezze |title=Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court |years=1987–2010 |after=Eric Brown }} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Moyer, Thomas J.}} Category:1939 births Category:2010 deaths Category:Judges of the Ohio District Courts of Appeals Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of Ohio Category:Ohio State University Moritz College of Law alumni Category:Politicians from Sandusky, Ohio Category:Lawyers from Columbus, Ohio Category:Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Ohio Category:Ohio Republicans Category:Burials at Green Lawn Cemetery (Columbus, Ohio) Category:School board members in Ohio Category:20th-century Ohio state court judges Category:20th-century American lawyers