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This information is provided by the candidate
Nick Thompson has received the highest rating for a judicial candidate by the Orange County Bar Association: "Highly Qualified." He is a dedicated prosecutor, husband, father and a decorated Iraq War veteran. He has been a selfless public servant with a broad spectrum of criminal and civil courtroom experience, which spans over 25 years.
Nick started his legal career in the private sector doing defense work, business litigation, family law and corporate formations. He then worked as a Deputy Public Defender with extensive work in dependency law. For nearly ten years Nick has been an Orange County Deputy District Attorney where he handled complex civil and criminal environmental enforcement. For the past four years, he has been assigned to a gang task force where he has targeted the most violent members of criminal street gangs and their leadership. He has been tough on violent gang crime with a strong record of life sentences for the worst offenders. He has fought to get harsh sentences for identity theft and other fraud related crimes committed by white supremacist gangs. Nick has dealt serious blows to drug dealing gang members who foster violence, vandalism, theft and delinquency in our neighborhoods. He has seen gang members terrorizing schools and neighborhoods, recruiting young kids, and destroying the property values of hard-working home and business owners. Because of this and by working directly with law enforcement in a task force, he has pushed for arrests and significant jail time for gang crimes, including vandalism and graffiti.
His task force uncovered and broke up a major illegal bail bond operation. They discovered repeat violent gang offenders being illegally and fraudulently bailed out of custody with nothing to ensure their appearance in court. The illegal activities included fraud, forgery and coercion perpetrated against arrestees and their families, as well as the courts.
Prior to being called to active duty in 2002, Nick served as the local prosecution liaison to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, as well as, to counter-terrorism law enforcement units from other areas. He handled tough cases that could not be prosecuted by federal agencies and was reputed within law enforcement as being effective in disrupting threats to domestic security. He holds a Top Secret SCI* clearance with the FBI and military. *(Secure Compartmentalized Info)
While in the Environmental Unit, he aggressively prosecuted illegal operations for dumping thousands of gallons of toxic materials and hazardous waste into storm drains and sewage systems, which endangered public health, the environment and public infrastructures. His civil and criminal enforcement actions protected legitimate businesses from unfair competition and environmentally harmful practices of illegitimate operators. Nick will bring years of experience, knowledge and insight to the bench, which will make him a tough but fair judge who follows the law.
Nick was decorated for his military service during the Iraq War and Bosnia, as well as, numerous other overseas missions. He received the Bronze Star for his leadership of a Psychological Operations detachment in a covert Task Force during the invasion of Iraq. He also served in Bosnia where he was awarded the Joint Commendation Medal for his work with foreign military intelligence units and psychological operations. Nick is currently an active Reserve JAG Officer with the U.S. Army 7th Psychological Operations Group in Moffett Field, CA. During his enlisted military service he was a paratrooper in the Special Operations community and worked as an Intelligence Analyst and Psychological Operations specialist. He has been an operator and expert in the field of psychological operations for over 16 years and traveled to over a dozen countries for exercises and missions to train foreign military allies in their fight against terrorism. He recently spoke at the Asian Terrorism Conference in Anaheim as a subject matter expert on the Tamil Tiger Terrorist Group. He has also been a frequent speaker for training with the U.S. Navy Fleet Information Warfare Center, Coronado, the Marine Corps, and deploying Army troops. He is a proud member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and former Commander of Post 1053 in Pasadena CA.
Nick Thompson is a devoted family man. He lives in Orange County with his wife, Tisha, their children, Cole and Shanelle, and their dog Reeces. Nick grew up in a large, nuclear, faith-oriented family. His father was a high school teacher while his mother raised the family. Nick continuously worked from the time he was twelve years old and put himself through school. His jobs included being an ambulance driver, mental health patient attendant and driver, warehouse worker, security guard, stage hand, meatpacker, karate instructor and deliveryman. He also learned the value of community service and volunteer work at a young age by being involved with the Sea Explorer program, the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets and being a 4-H leader. In high school and college he was a record-holding varsity track and cross country athlete. At Western State law school, he was a member of the Jessup International Law Moot Court Team that placed 4th in the nation ahead of major Ivy League law schools. The team was recognized on the floor of the House of Representatives by Congressman Bill Dannemeyer on April 29, 1980while in Washington D.C. for the competition.
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