President & Chief Counsel
Richard Thompson
Richard Thompson is the President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center. Mr. Thompson spent 24 years of his professional career, at the executive level of law enforcement. The elected Oakland County, Michigan Prosecuting Attorney for eight years, from 1989 through 1996, Mr. Thompson directed a staff of 180 including 102 lawyers, and administered an annual budget of $12 million dollars. He successfully defended the constitutionality of Michigan’s Mandatory Life Law for major drug dealers in the United States Supreme Court. He created the state’s first Child Sexual Assault Crimes Unit, and developed one of the nation’s toughest no plea bargaining policies achieving a 98 percent conviction rate.
Mr. Thompson gained national prominence while prosecuting attorney for his uncompromising stand against Jack Kevorkian, despite public opinion in Michigan which overwhelmingly supported “Dr. Death” and Physician Assisted Suicide.
Mr. Thompson served as a member of Michigan Governor John Engler’s Advisory Council on Criminal Justice, and as a member of the Michigan Commission on Death and Dying established under state law for the purpose of making recommendations to the state legislature on the issue of physician assisted suicide. He has appeared before numerous state legislative committees on law enforcement and family values issues, and interacted with other governmental entities at local, county and state levels.
Mr. Thompson has appeared on numerous nationally televised talk shows, including: FOX News Channel’s O’Reilly Factor, and Hannity & Colmes programs, CNN’s Crossfire and Larry King Live, The Phil Donahue Show, The Joan Rivers Show, and Rivera Live on CNBC.
Mr. Thompson has received numerous awards during his professional career, including:
- Family, Faith and Freedom Award from the Family Research Council (1997)
- Defender of Life Award from The American Center for Law and Justice (1996)
- Lifetime Achievement Award from Right to Life of Michigan (1997)
- President’s Award by the Executive Board of the Baptist State Convention of Michigan for efforts against assisted suicide (1996)
- Friend of the Family Award from Michigan Christian Coalition (1996)
- Champion for Life Award, for Biblical Christian Values and for Children, from the American Family Association of Michigan (1993)
- Award in recognition of service defending traditional Judeo-Christian values in the public arena from Foundation for Traditional Values (1997)
- Victims Justice Award from the Parents of Murdered Children of Michigan (1996)
- Distinguished Service Award from the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Lansing Diocese for his fight for the sanctity of life (2000)
In the Thomas More Law Center, Richard Thompson has gathered and directs a highly professional and aggressive team of lawyers dedicated to the defense and promotion of the religious liberty of Christians, time-honored family values and the sanctity of human life.
