Thomas Tongue

Infobox Judge
name = Thomas H. Tongue


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office = 75th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court
termstart = 1969
termend = 1982
nominator =
appointer = Tom McCall
predecessor = Alfred T. Goodwin
successor = Betty Roberts
office2 =
termstart2 =
termend2 =
nominator2 =
appointer2 =
predecessor2 =
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birthdate = February 12 1912
birthplace = Hillsboro, Oregon
deathdate = death date and age|1994|5|31|1912|2|12|mf=y
deathplace = Hillsboro, Oregon
spouse = Bernice Healy Tongue

Thomas H. Tongue III (February 12 1912—May 31 1994) was an American jurist in the state of Oregon. He served as the 75th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. Tongue is the grandson of U.S. Representative Thomas H. Tongue, who was an emigrant from England in the early days of the state of Oregon.

Early life

Justice Tongue was born in Hillsboro, Oregon, on February 12 1912, to the Tongue legal family.cite news
authorlink =
title=T.H. Tongue, ex-state high court Justice, dies
work=The Oregonian
page=B04
date=June 1, 1994] He began college in 1930 and graduated with his undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon in 1934. He then attended the School of Law at the University of Oregon, graduating with a J.D. in 1937.cite web
title = Class Notes
work = Oregon Lawyer
publisher = University of Oregon School of Law
url = http://www.law.uoregon.edu/news/upload/OL2006wide.pdf
accessdate = 2007-01-06 ] While at Oregon he served as class president as an undergrad, and finished first in his class in law school. Also as an undergraduate he was a member of the Chi Psi fraternity. [ [http://groups.wfu.edu/lodge/national/notables.html Prominent Chi Psi Brothers.] Alpha Upsilon Delta of Chi Psi. Retrieved January 10 2008.] After the University of Oregon he went on to earn an advanced degree from Yale Law School. At Yale he earned a Doctor of the Science of Law while on the Yale Sterling Fellowship that he had obtained with the assistance of Dean Wayne Morse of Oregon’s law school.

Legal career

Tongue began his career working in the New Deal government for the Labor Department, including arguing cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Later he worked for the National War Labor Board and the University of Oregon before entering private practice in 1943 in Portland, Oregon. During his time in private practice, Tongue taught at the Northwestern College of Law. Additionally, he served on the Oregon State Bar’s board of governors, Oregon Labor Management Relations Board, and was chairperson of the Oregon Judicial Fitness Commission. In 1961, he received the State Bar's Award of Merit.

Tongue was appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court by Governor Tom McCall in 1969 to replace Alfred Goodwin who had resigned.cite web
title = Oregon Supreme Court Justices
work = Oregon Blue Book
publisher = Oregon Secretary of State
url = http://www.bluebook.state.or.us/state/elections/elections27.htm
accessdate = 2006-12-21 ] Tongue was then elected to a full six-year term in 1970 and re-elected in 1976. Justice Tongue then resigned from the bench February 7, 1982. After retiring from the Oregon Supreme Court, Tongue continued to work as a senior judge for the state and as an arbitrator. In 1992, the Oregon State Bar Association granted him their President's Award. [http://www.osbar.org/_docs/leadership/presawards.pdf Award of Merit and President’s Awards.] Oregon State Bar Association. Retrieved January 10 2008]

Decisions authored

*"Ruble Forest Products, Inc. v. Lancer Mobile Homes of Oregon", 269 Or. 315, 524 P.2d 1204 (1974) (contract law)
*"Southworth v. Oliver", 284 Or. 361, 587 P.2d 994 (1978) (contract law)
*"Oregon Bus. Planning Cncl. v. Dept. of Land Conservation and Development", 290 Or. 741, 626 P.2d 350 (1981) (land use)

Later life and family

Justice Tongue was married to Bernice Healy. They had three sons: John Richard, James Cadwell, and Thomas Healy. Thomas H. Tongue III died May 31 1994, in Hillsboro, Oregon and is buried at Hillsboro’s Pioneer Cemetery.

References