Posted on 02/06/2010 11:47:55 AM PST by La Enchiladita
GULFPORT — Students and faculty members at Stetson University College of Law were treated Tuesday to one of the rarest sights in American jurisprudence:
A U.S. Supreme Court justice riffing on everything from his disappearing hairline to his co-workers to that fancy show his wife dragged him to one night. What's it called again? Oh, yeah: opera.
Live from Gulfport, it's Associate Justice Clarence Thomas.
"We just sit there and ask questions that don't need to be asked," said Thomas, playfully describing the nation's highest court.
It was an inside legal joke that may require background for those who don't regularly follow the high court. Thomas is famous for his silence during oral arguments. By some accounts he hasn't asked a question in three years.
The justices are a recalcitrant group, Thomas even more so after his searing confirmation hearings two decades ago. His public appearances are rare. He hardly ever speaks to the press.
Yet there is one setting where Thomas is the most accessible of the bunch: in front of law students.
That was evident in Tuesday's free-wheeling and candid discussion, the culmination of his two-day visit regaling students and professors at the school.
...Thomas has a passion for reaching out to law students, said Stetson professor Michael Allen. What few public appearances the justice makes are often at law schools.
"It is difficult to convey how rare of an experience it is for any American law student to have with one of the Supreme Court justices," Allen said.
(Excerpt) Read more at tampabay.com ...
Yes, on both points, my FRiend. It does my heart good to meet others here who appreciate what this man has done for our Country and who he IS. Maybe we will get a Part 2 to his autobio...*wink*
See post #11, including the link.
Yes, Biden was the bloodthirsty shark of those hearings.
He is a man of quiet dignity.
The confirmation hearings were the first time I realized the sign out front said “Conservative Blacks Need Not Apply.”
At the time of those hearings i was working at a firm where most of the secretaries would be considered future obama voters. They fell for it all, lock, stock and barrel, and became big Anita Hill fans. Very predictable response.
Biden behaved in a MOST undignified manner, and it saddens me to know he is the Veep.
I worked at a community college at the time, and a female co-worker wore an “I Believe Anita Hill” button every day. Ugh.
I think Thomas’s explanation of Hill’s jealousy of co-workers’ promotions she thought she should get, pretty convincing as to motive.
Alibris has several used copies for $1.99
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