A lot of court-watchers seem to be swayed by how active a particular Justice is in asking questions of the attorneys. Thomas is usually pretty quiet from what I’ve read.
Yeah. Thomas has disdained the oral questioning as intellectual showboating and game playing (i.e., getting other Justices to see how stupid or cogent a particular argument may be).
IIIRC, he has stated that all the information they need is in the written briefs, which he apparently reads and considers very carefully.