Posted on 05/04/2019 1:59:16 PM PDT by upsdriver
Clarence Thomas has been a Supreme Court justice for nearly three decades. It may finally be his moment.
Many Americans know Thomas largely from his bruising 1991 confirmation hearing, when he was accused of sexual harassment charges by former employee Anita Hill — charges he denied. People may know he’s a conservative and has gone years without speaking during arguments at the court. But scholars say it would be wise to pay closer attention to Thomas.
Thomas is now the longest-serving member of a court that has recently gotten more conservative, putting him in a unique and potentially powerful position, and he’s said he doesn’t plan on retiring anytime soon. With President Donald Trump’s nominees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh now on the court, conservatives are firmly in control as the justices take on divisive issues such as abortion, gun control and LGBT rights.
Thomas, for the first time, is on a court where there are at least four votes for some “pretty radical” decisions, said political science professor Corey Robin, the author of a Thomas book due out in September. Robin says the question will be whether the court’s more conservative justices — Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Samuel Alito — can get Chief Justice John Roberts, a more moderate conservative, to go along.
Thomas, 70, became the high court’s longest-serving justice, the “senior associate justice,” when Justice Anthony Kennedy retired last summer . But unlike Kennedy, who sat at the court’s ideological center and was most often the deciding vote when the court split 5-4, Thomas is consistently on the court’s far right.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
“A nice little article about Justice Clarence Thomas”
By the AP(!)
I have admired him since the Anita Hill onslaught. He stood firm and earned his place on the court. Reading his opinions, mostly dissenting, has just increased my admiration for him.
Wow, hard to believe he is the longest serving justice now. I’m getting old.
“Nice”?
Calling Justice Thomas “far-right” is NICE?
We have different interpretations of that word, I suppose.
Then again, during Reagan’s tenure as President, Thomas was considered by some to be centrist slightly right, but things change, don’t they?
I refuse to let the barking moonbats define what is “mainstream”, as they are so far left Marx himself is considered reactionary.
My theory is that Thurgood Marshall assumed GHWB would be re-elected easily in 1992 because his poll numbers were so high right after the Gulf War. Bush was able to nominate Clarence Thomas only because of Marshall’s retirement. If Marshall had remained on the court until his death, Bill Clinton would have chosen his replacement—for sure a black leftist (and probably a woman because Hillary would have demanded it).
Roberts ain’t no moderate conservative. If anything, he is a moderate liberal. His mess in the Obammy healthcare bill proved he cannot be a conservative of any type. He ruled with the left that day on the biggest case in decades.
Considering that anyone to the right of Bill Clinton is considered "far right" by the media, I'd take that term with a grain of salt. If Justice Thomas is "far right", I'm proud to consider myself the same and stand right along side him. In the eyes of the real world, we're normal.
For the most part, this article was quite fair.
And he’s still just 70—young in Justice years!
“Far right.”
For the sake of symmetry, I’ sure Jessica Gresko uses “far left” when she writes about Ruth Buzzi Ginsburg, Breyer, and the Wide Latina.
Judge Thomas is a treasure.
Thank God he’s there to serve as a counter example for Dorkbama the Muslim eunuch quota boy.
The judge is a genius.
The ex-president is excrement.
Wrong. Actually Mr Robin (a political science professor who has appeared on NPR, MSNBC, and other media outlets, i.e., a statist) the question is whether the court's more liberal justices can either outlive or avoid retirement before the end Trump Administration. If so, Roberts becomes irrelevant.
I wish he would retire and take a well-deserved retirement, and give Trump his suggestion for his replacement.
Hi.
“Thomas is consistently on the court’s far right.”
I consider Justice Thomas, “normal.” I consider Ginsburg and Kagan “far left.”
AP.
5.56mm
Roberts,,,
Exactly!
He ,at least, caved.
He should have been Chief Justice
The deep state fear losing their blackmail over justices. What if the blackmail was exposed? Prison or losing the black robes? Good question to ask a deep stater.
Interesting note that the McDonough v Smith heard a couple weeks ago saw Justice Thomas carefully supporting a frail RBG when they left the bench.
Three words that really irritate me:
Chief Justice Roberts
We were promised a strict constructionist by 43. We got a lackey instead.
I have less use for 43 than 44. And that is saying a lot.
Why? He’s still got many more years on the court.
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