Thomas Lane
Member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council from the 5th district
In office 1965–1977
Preceded by	John Buckley
Succeeded by	John Markey
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 7th district
In office December 30, 1941 – January 3, 1963
Preceded by	Lawrence J. Connery
Succeeded by	Torbert Macdonald
Member of the Massachusetts Senate from the 5th Essex district
In office 1939–1941
Preceded by	James Meehan
Succeeded by	Michael Flanagan
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office 1927–1938
Personal details
Born	Thomas Joseph Lane (1898-07-06)July 6, 1898 Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	June 14, 1994(1994-06-14) (aged 95) Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Education	Suffolk University (LLB)

Thomas Joseph Lane (July 6, 1898 – June 14, 1994) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 1941 to 1963, notable for having been re-elected after serving time in federal prison.

Lane was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts on July 6, 1898 and graduated from Lawrence High School. Lane received an LL.B. in 1925 from Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Mass and then served in the United States Army.

Massachusetts General Court[edit]

Lane was lawyer in private practice and a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1927 to 1938 and a member of the Massachusetts Senate from 1939 to 1941.

Congress[edit]

Lane was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-seventh Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative Lawrence J. Connery, and reelected to the Seventy-eighth and the nine succeeding Congresses. Lane, also, sponsored the legislation in the House of Representatives that called for the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) to become a Congressional – chartered organization. He later served on the Board of the Directors of the NCoC. He served from December 30, 1941 to January 3, 1963.

In 1956, Lane was re-elected after serving four months in prison for evading $38,542 in income taxes.^[1][2][3]

Later life[edit]

Lane was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Eighty-eighth Congress in 1962. He served as a member of the Governor’s Council for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1965 to 1977.

He died on June 14, 1994, in Lawrence, Massachusetts and his interment was at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, North Andover, Massachusetts.

See also[edit]

• Massachusetts legislature: 1927–1928, 1929–1930, 1931–1932, 1933–1934, 1935–1936, 1937–1938, 1939, 1941–1942
• List of American federal politicians convicted of crimes
• List of federal political scandals in the United States
• Suffolk University Law School

References[edit]

• United States Congress. "Thomas J. Lane (id: L000065)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.