Clarence Thomas

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Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
From: October 19, 1991 – present
Nominator | George H. W. Bush
Predecessor | Thurgood Marshall
Successor | Incumbent (no successor)
Information

Spouse(s)  | Kate Ambush Thomas (div.)
Virginia Lamp Thomas

Religion  | Roman Catholic

Clarence Thomas was Conservative of the Decade for the 2000-2009 decade and Conservative of the Year in 2009.

Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was born in Savannah, Georgia, which he often mentions in referencing his roots, such as in his book, My Grandfather's Son. His most prominent decisions include his decision for the Court in favor of after-hours religious school clubs in Good News Club v. Milford Central School, 533 U.S. 98 (2001), his decision for the 5–4 Court invalidating a federal government seizure of property as a violation of the Eighth Amendment in United States v. Bajakajian, 524 U.S. 321, 324 (1998) and his stirring dissent from the 5–4 invalidation of term limits passed in an Arkansas referendum with respect to its congressmen, in U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (1995) (Thomas, J., dissenting).

Justice Thomas is a leader on the Court in urging limits or elimination on incorporating the Establishment Clause against the States, because that clause was ratified as a federalist provision for protecting States against the new federal government.[1] He is also highly respected by legal scholars for adhering to an interpretation of the U.S. Constitution based on its original text, meaning and understanding, which has included limiting federal powers. His judicial doctrine finds no basis in the Constitution for abortion, Roe v. Wade, homosexual "rights," federal interference with state sovereignty, the Dormant Commerce Clause and constitutional limits on punitive damages. Compared to the rest of the court, Thomas strongly defends Second Amendment rights and has criticized the court for not doing more to protect it.[2] Thomas has advocated for discarding faulty precedents when they clearly conflict with the text of the Constitution rather than irrationally clinging to such precedents.[3][4][5]

Thomas has a straightforward writing style that presents his principled approach in a clear manner and his judicial temperament is undisputed. He has an unblemished record of service on the Court since 1991 and has never had to recuse himself from a case due to activity off the bench or investments. He is also noted for rarely speaking during oral arguments on cases. Over the course of his distinguished career, he has trained more conservative law clerks than any other Justice.

## Contents

* 1 Tribute
* 2 Early life
* 3 Comparison with Justice Scalia
* 4 Former Clerks
* 5 Appointment to the United States Supreme Court
* 5.1 Racist smear campaign
* 6 Views on racism
* 7 Personal life
* 8 See also
* 9 Further reading
* 10 References
* 11 External links

## Tribute[edit]

On July 18, 1995, Phyllis Schlafly wrote a humorous, enlightening poem in tribute to Justice Thomas:

“  |  No High Court Justice shows such promise

As our favorite, Clarence Thomas.

You're a jurist for the ages
Who sends the liberals into rages.

With your mighty brain and quill,
You cramp the style of Hillary and Bill.

We're thrilled you've stopped the Left's destruction
To be a voice for strict construction.

With courageous resolution
You stick to the text of our Constitution.

We're glad you've started to slap the paws
Of liberals misusing the Commerce Clause.

Justice Thomas, please don't relent
In seeking out original intent.

As we watch you face the strife,
We thank God you're there for life.

|  ”

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## Early life[edit]

Thomas was born on June 23, 1948. His earliest stages of life were in Pinpoint, Georgia, until his mother took him and his younger brother, Myers Lee Thomas, to live in Savannah. However, his mother couldn't afford to take care of them, so she gave them to her father, Myers Anderson. Anderson raised them up on his farm, where Thomas and his brother were raised to be very hardworking.[6]

## Comparison with Justice Scalia[edit]

President Trump and Justice Thomas, June 2018

Thomas is most often compared to Justice Antonin Scalia, both support overturning Roe v. Wade, both reject the existence of a Negative Commerce Clause, both feel that the only restriction on how prisons treat inmates is what actually constitutes Cruel and Unusual Punishment under the Eighth Amendment, and both support strong sovereign immunity for states by virtue of the Eleventh Amendment.[7]

But these Justices have significant differences. Through the 2006–2007 term, Thomas had written 252 concurrences or dissents, of which Scalia had joined about 2/3rds. Conversely, Scalia had written 480 concurrences or dissents (he has served more years on the Court), of which Thomas had joined about half.

Thomas sided with free enterprise and wrote the opinion for the Court in upholding an FCC rule that placed broadband cable services outside of the regulatory definition for "telecommunications service", despite how the FCC rejected a contrary ruling by a Court of Appeals.[8] Scalia dissented in a forceful manner, and thereby defended general judicial authority at the expense of free enterprise.

Scalia typically rejects the use of legislative history more often than Thomas does. Scalia also rejects the important line of cases establishing a constitutional right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children, see Pierce v. Society of Sisters, while Thomas has not rejected that line of cases or a constitutional right of parents in some limited cases.[9]

Thomas takes a broader view of state sovereignty over intrastate activities against encroachment by the federal government. In Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1 (2005), Thomas dissented from the Court opinion that upheld a federal law that interfered with California's legalization of marijuana for alleged medical purposes. In other words, Thomas felt that the federal government lacked the power to interfere with state sovereignty over this intrastate activity. Scalia, in contrast, joined the majority of the Court in upholding application of federal law to destroy marijuana plants grown lawfully under California law.

Thomas also has taken more conservative positions than Scalia has. Thomas alone embraced a conservative view of the Second Amendment. In Printz v. United States, Thomas wrote a concurrence strongly suggesting a conservative, individual-rights view of the Second Amendment. No other Justice on the Court joined that concurrence. Only Thomas has expressed disagreement with the "aggregation principle" used to expand federal power based on the Commerce Clause.[10]

Justices Thomas and Scalia differ on the issue of free speech and pornography. Thomas provided the crucial fifth vote in United States v. Playboy Entm't Group, 529 U.S. 803 (2000), which rejected indecency regulation of cable television in part because "[t]he question is whether an actual problem has been proved in this case. We agree that the Government has failed to establish a pervasive, nationwide problem justifying its nationwide daytime speech ban."[11] Scalia dissented, expressly his view that the government has broader powers under the First Amendment to regulate indecency on cable television.

Thomas again provided the key fifth vote in Ashcroft v. ACLU, 542 U.S. 656 (2004), which invalidated as unconstitutional a federal law criminalizing the posting on a commercial website of pornography harmful to minors unless there were protections against access by minors. The 5-4 Court placed the burden on parents to keep their children away from pornographic sites, rather than allowing Congress to place the burden on pornographers to limit access to their sites. Scalia, Justice William Rehnquist, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Justice Stephen Breyer dissented.

Thomas tends to oppose government power more often than Scalia does. In a 5-4 decision written by Thomas, from which Scalia dissented, Thomas held that the United States was wrong to seize $357,144 in cash from a traveler simply because he failed to report it as required by law. Thomas, writing for the Court, held that such a forfeiture "would violate the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment ... because full forfeiture of respondent's currency would be grossly disproportional to the gravity of his offense."[12]

Thomas is more likely than Scalia to enforce a statute that is wrong as a matter of policy, as Thomas is more likely to hold that Congress alone can fix its own law.[13]

Thomas has called for ending a right of free speech for students in public school, and stated his view that Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School Dist., 393 U.S. 503 (1969), "is without basis in the Constitution" and should be overruled.[14] Neither Scalia nor any other conservative has yet supported this position of Thomas.

On the Negative Commerce Clause, Thomas is more reliable than Scalia in defending state laws that discriminate against out-of-state companies. Thomas, for example, wrote the dissent in the 5-4 decision invalidating a Michigan law that limited shipments by out-of-state wineries.[15] Scalia split from Thomas and surprisingly joined the more liberal majority in that case, which was presented using the issue of the Negative Commerce Clause but then decided based on slightly different grounds.

On the issue of compelled speech, Thomas stronger than Scalia in defending a First Amendment right not to pay for something with which one disagrees:[16]

“  |  I write separately, however, to reiterate my views that "paying money for the purposes of advertising involves speech," and that "compelling speech raises a First Amendment issue just as much as restricting speech." Id. at 504 (THOMAS, J., dissenting). Any regulation that compels the funding of advertising must be subjected to the most stringent First Amendment scrutiny.  |  ”

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Scalia did not join Thomas's concurrence above.

Justice Thomas favors reviving the "Privileges and Immunities Clause."

## Former Clerks[edit]

As a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Thomas has mentored over 60 clerks. They include:

* Laura Ingraham, conservative talk radio host[17]
* Wendy Long, senior legal advisor and vice chair of Mitt Romney's National Faith and Values Steering Committee[18]
* Professor Steven McAllister, University of Kansas School of Law

## Appointment to the United States Supreme Court[edit]

In 1991, upon the retirement of Justice Thurgood Marshall, President George H.W. Bush nominated Thomas to fill the newly vacant seat. Supporters of abortion desperately opposed his nomination. Nonetheless, Thomas was confirmed by the Senate with a vote of 52–48, which was at the time the narrowest confirmation of a Supreme Court nominee in history.

Thomas has stated that the biggest impediment to his confirmation and his life, in general, were the "modern day liberal," and he noted that liberals held a double standard toward him because he was conservative.[19]

### Racist smear campaign[edit]

Thomas was the victim of a racially-motivated smear campaign by Democrats.

Radical leftists attempted to block Thomas' nomination to the High Court through a persistent series of public guilt by association smears.[20] Sen. Joseph Biden agreed to hold a series of racially motivated hearings dubbed "the Anita Hill hearings" which have been described as a leftist "high tech lynching for uppidy blacks."[21]

In a flagrant violation of the rules of the Senate,[22] staff members[23] for a sitting Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee leaked a routine confidential FBI background report to Nina Totenberg of National Public Radio (NPR)[24] which contained a vicious defamatory smear intended to mar Thomas for life. The accusation was known to be false, and was concocted to publicly intimidate an African-American Republican from accepting an appointment to the nation's High Court, and derail his nomination. None of the allegations could be substantiated. The deliberate falsehoods did however persuade former Ku Klux Klan Democratic Senator Robert Byrd to change his vote from "yes" for confirmation to "no".

Liberals have continued to smear Thomas and uncritically believe Hill's claims.[25]

## Views on racism[edit]

As a justice, Thomas has strongly opposed identity politics and believes treating people as individuals, rather than members of an ethnic group, is consistent with the Constitution.[26]

ABC News wrote:

“  |  He is adamantly opposed to affirmative action, but for entirely different reasons than white conservatives who drive the debate by arguing it's unfair to white people. Thomas says affirmative action instead has hurt blacks. It not only sends them into environments in which they are doomed to struggle instead of soar, but it also perpetuates negative stereotypes that whites hold today that all blacks are inferior to them and don't belong — just as whites in the South assumed 50 years ago.[27] |  ”

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## Personal life[edit]

Clarence Thomas is married to Virginia Lamp Thomas. He is "decidedly and unapologetically Catholic."[28]

## See also[edit]

* Black history
* Colion Noir, Alfonzo Rachel, Alex Barron, Sheriff David Clarke, Dr. Ben Carson, Alan Keyes, Reginald Kaigler (Demcad), Thomas Sowell, Clarence Thomas, Conservative black pundits (See Black conservatives and AfricanAmericanConservatives.com)

## Further reading[edit]

* Magnet, Myron (2019). Clarence Thomas and the Lost Constitution. New York: Encounter Books. ISBN 9781641770521.

## References[edit]

1. ↑ See, e.g., Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, 542 U.S. 1, 45-46 (2004) (Thomas, J., concurring) (“[T]he Establishment Clause is a federalism provision, which, for this reason, resists incorporation.”); Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U.S. 639, 677-680, and n. 3 (Thomas, J., concurring).
2. ↑ Byas, Steve (February 21, 2018). Justice Thomas: Supreme Court Does Not Give Second Amendment Due Respect. The New American. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
3. ↑ Clabough, Raven (June 18, 2019). Justice Thomas Opinion Decries “Erroneous Precedent,” Hints at Overturn of Roe v. Wade. The New American. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
4. ↑ Freiburger, Calvin (June 18, 2019). Clarence Thomas says Supreme Court shouldn’t follow ‘erroneous precedent,’ possibly upending Roe. LifeSiteNews. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
5. ↑ Stempel, Jonathan (June 17, 2019). Justice Thomas urges U.S. Supreme Court to feel free to reverse precedents. Reuters. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
6. ↑ My Grandfather's Son, by Clarence Thomas, 2007, pp. 1 - 13.
7. ↑ Cent. Va. Cmty. College v. Katz, 546 U.S. 356 (2006) (Thomas and Scalia, JJ., dissenting).
8. ↑ Nat'l Cable and Telecomms. Ass'n v. Brand X Internet Servs.
9. ↑ See, e.g., Troxel v. Granville (2000).
10. ↑ United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549, 600, 131 L. Ed. 2d 626, 115 S. Ct. 1624 (1995) (concurring opinion).
11. ↑ 529 U.S. at 822-23.
12. ↑ United States v. Bajakajian, 524 U.S. 321, 324 (1998).
13. ↑ Volvo Trucks N. Am., Inc. v. Reeder-Simco GMC, Inc., 546 U.S. 164 (2006).
14. ↑ Morse v. Frederick, 127 S. Ct. 2618, 2630 (2007) (Thomas, J., concurring).
15. ↑ Granholm v. Heald
16. ↑ United States v. United Foods, 533 U.S. 405, 418-19 (2001) (Thomas, J., concurring)
17. ↑ About Laura Ingraham. Laura Ingraham.
18. ↑ Judging Mitt. American Spectator (July 30, 2007).
19. ↑ Multiple references:
* Chasmar, Jessica (October 23, 2019). Clarence Thomas speaks out in new documentary: My 'biggest impediment was the modern day liberal'. The Washington Times. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
* Dibble, Madison (October 23, 2019). ‘It was to undermine me’: Clarence Thomas slams Democrats in upcoming documentary on Anita Hill hearings. Washington Examiner. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
* Frazin, Rachel (October 24, 2019). Clarence Thomas: There's a 'different sets of rules' for criticizing me because I'm conservative. The Hill. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
* Bleau, Hannah (November 30, 2019). Clarence Thomas: The ‘Modern-Day Liberal’ Has Been Bigger ‘Impediment’ than ‘Klansmen’. Breitbart News. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
20. ↑ A Few Facts About Clarence Thomas, Chip Berlet, Political Research Associates, Cambridge MA, 1997. Chip Berlet of Political Research Associates noted that Thomas was on the editorial board of the Lincoln Review, a quarterly black conservative publication of the Lincoln Institute. Berlet issued a rather dubious ad hominem attack which claimed "it is a far right group that has worked in coalition with… fascist and anti-Semitic groups," and goes on to "link" Lincoln Institute head J. A. Baker with the Indiana Ku Klux Klan by virtue that Baker is on the board of the Council for National Policy and another board member is supposedly a former Klan member.
21. ↑ Clarence Thomas Hearings: Biden Questions Thomas 1
22. ↑ Congressional Record -Senate, 102nd Congress, October 7, 1991, Vol 137, Part 18, p. 25706.
23. ↑ The Real Anita Hill. University of Iowa (March 1992).
24. ↑ The Clarence Thomas Hearings, by William Boot, Columbia Journalism Review, January/February 1992.
25. ↑ McManus, John F. (May 1, 2019). Are There No Defenders of Clarence Thomas? The New American. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
26. ↑ Gerber, Scott Douglas (February 12, 2019). Clarence Thomas has had a lasting impact on black history in America. The Hill. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
27. ↑ Clarence Thomas: A Silent Justice Speaks Out. ABC (September 30, 2007).
28. ↑ Berry, Susan (May 19, 2018). Justice Clarence Thomas: ‘I Am Decidedly and Unapologetically Catholic’. Breitbart News. Retrieved May 19, 2018.

## External links[edit]

* Clarence Thomas, Real Clear Politics, October 9, 2007
* A Conversation with Justice Clarence Thomas \- Hillsdale College interview with Justice Thomas conducted in his chambers at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on September 19, 2007.

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