Thomas A. Flannery

Thomas A. Flannery was born January 5, 1918, in Washington, D.C. He served as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1967 to March 1970, appointed under President Lyndon B. Johnson. In that capacity, he directed the formation of the team that designed the Prosecutor's Management Information System (PROMIS) -- the case management software that became the center of the INSLAW affair a decade later.¹

Role in PROMIS Development

In 1969, Flannery commissioned a team from Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co to design a computer-based case management system for the DC U.S. Attorney's Office, funded by a $60,000 grant (70-DF-047) from the Office of Crime Analysis of the District of Columbia administered through the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. The team was co-directed by Joan E. Jacoby (Director of the Office of Crime Analysis) and Charles R. Work (Deputy Chief of the Superior Court Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office), with Bill Hamilton serving as project manager. The system - named the Prosecutor's Management Information System - was deployed on January 1, 1971.¹

Judicial Career

President Richard Nixon nominated Flannery to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in July 1970. He was confirmed by the Senate and began judicial service in December 1970. He served as Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia from 1977 until approximately 1987, and continued as a senior judge thereafter. He died June 25, 1993.²