[Alberta's Child]

Clarence Thomas explained his silence on the bench during oral arguments in his autobiography, My Grandfather's Son.

I'll paraphrase his explanation here:

"By the time a case comes up for oral arguments before the Supreme Court I have spent many hours reading every court filing, brief, appellate court decision, etc. in the case. Every argument I can possibly imagine is presented in these documents, and there is nothing else I can learn about the case by asking questions in those oral arguments."

[EveningStar]

Thanks for the info. :)