Tom Foran

Thomas Aquinas Foran (January 11, 1924 – August 6, 2000)^[1] was a US Attorney best known as the chief prosecutor in the Chicago Seven conspiracy trial in which seven defendants, including Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, and Tom Hayden, were charged with inciting riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Foran also prosecuted several police officers caught on film beating the protestors with clubs.

Thomas Foran was born in Chicago. He interrupted his college education to serve as a torpedo bomber pilot in the Pacific in World War II.^[2]

After the war, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Loyola University and received his law degree at the University of Detroit in 1950. Foran was a senior partner in Foran & Schultz, the firm he founded in 1957.

In private practice, he established a reputation as an expert in eminent domain law, representing the City of Chicago in major public works projects, but he also acted as counsel for property owners. As a United States attorney, from 1968 to 1970, successfully prosecuted more than 150 organized crime figures.

He died in Lake Forest, Illinois, on August 6, 2000, surrounded by his family.

In popular culture[]

Harris Yulin played Foran in the 1987 film Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8, and in the animated 2007 film Chicago 10 Foran's voice was provided by Nick Nolte. He was portrayed by Steven Culp in the 2010 film The Chicago 8 and by J. C. MacKenzie in the 2020 film, The Trial of the Chicago 7.

Gary Houston played Foran in the 1992 stage adaptation from transcripts titled and produced by Remains Theatre in Chicago.

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