Clarence Thomas on the day he was sworn in in October 1991. Thomas is concerned about the attacks suffered today by the country’s supreme court, to which he has dedicated 30 years of his life. PHOTO: Courtesy of Judge Clarence Thomas.
(c) 2021, The Washington Post – Mike Berardino, Ann E. Marimow
Justice Clarence Thomas defended the independence of the Supreme Court yesterday Thursday and warned about the danger of “destroying our institutions when they don’t give us what we want, when we want it.”
Thomas, the longest-serving Supreme Court judge, acknowledged that the high court has its flaws, likening it to “a car with three wheels” that somehow still works. But he said the judges are not passing their sentences based on their “personal preferences” and suggested that the nation’s leaders should not “allow others to manipulate our institutions when we do not get the results we want.”
The judge spoke these words during a presentation at the University of Notre Dame in which he spoke about his experience of traveling in a motor home through the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee with his wife, Ginni. Thomas reflected on his childhood in a segregated South and his religious faith. He also repeatedly referred to political polarization in the United States.
“We have reached a point where we are pretty good at finding something to separate us,” Thomas told the audience of more than 800 students and faculty gathered at the university’s performing arts center.
Thomas added his voice to that of other justices who have recently come out to defend the court amid mounting criticism that describes the nine justices as mere politicians in robes.
“I believe that the media paint us as if in each sentence one simply resorts to their personal preferences. So if they think you’re anti-abortion or something like that on a personal level, they think that’s the only thing you will base your sentences on. They think that you are in favor of this or that. They think you become a kind of politician, ”Thomas said in response to a question about the public’s misperception of the court.
“That is a problem. Because they are going to put faith in legal institutions at risk ”. In recent weeks, Judge Stephen G. Breyer, during a book promoting tour, has emphasized that he and his colleagues are not “minor league” politicians. Last week, the newest member of the court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, told a crowd in Kentucky that the judges were not “a bunch of crazy partisans” and that their decisions are based on the free competition of judicial philosophies. and not in political activism.
Thomas’s speech comes in which the Supreme Court will return to its premises next month for face-to-face argument sessions for the first time since March 2020, when the building was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Each of the nine judges are vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to the Court, and have been meeting for their private lectures.
The judges have agreed to evaluate the debate around a gun control law in New York and will also hear a case from Mississippi involving the banning of most abortions after 15 weeks’ gestation.
Opponents of abortion are asking the court to use this case to reverse the iconic Roe v. Wade that guarantees the right to abortion before the viability of delivery, usually around 22 to 24 weeks.
Even during the court’s traditional summer recess, judges have issued a series of emergency orders repealing pandemic-related restrictions, directed the executive branch to reinstitute a Trump-era immigration policy, and refused to block a Texas decree that bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
In response to questions from the audience, Thomas shared some elements of his decision-making process as a judge. When asked if he had ever changed his mind after an attorney’s oral presentation, Thomas said, “almost never,” making the audience laugh.
For years, Thomas was known for his reluctance from the bench and asked little during arguments. But during teleconference hearings, judges have taken turns speaking in order of seniority, and Thomas has been an active questioner.
Thomas said Thursday that the real work is in the written pleadings introduced before an argument. He spoke about an argument presented to the Court that was detrimental to the case, and resulted in the judges unanimously reversing their decision after hearing the lawyer. “Sometimes you just be quiet and sit down,” the judge said.
Thomas was also asked if the legal issues he must deal with as a judge sometimes conflict with his Catholic faith. Without giving examples, Thomas said, “There are some things that are in strong conflict with my personal opinions, my preferences about the type of policies, and those were quite difficult to handle, particularly in my early days.”
“I don’t do a lot of feeling drain on my opinions and tell people, ‘oh,’ I’m so sad about that. ‘ That is not the role of a judge. You do your job and then cry alone ”.
Thomas was warmly received by hundreds of students and teachers. At the end of her presentation, a group of three protesters interrupted the session shouting slogans of “I still believe Anita Hill,” in reference to the controversial hearings on her confirmation in 1991 that included Hill’s accusations that he had harassed her. verbally.
The protesters were quickly withdrawn from the auditorium, unleashing a new standing ovation from the audience for Thomas.
During his presentation of more than an hour Thursday, Thomas did not speak directly about the proposal to expand the size of the Supreme Court. President Joe Biden has created a commission to consider structural changes after Republican lawmakers rushed to confirm Barrett following the death of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg within weeks of the 2020 election.
But on a couple of occasions Thomas warned that “we must be very, very careful” not to “destroy our institutions.” He went on to quote his late grandfather who said, “After doing that, then what? What is the next step?”.
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