# Clarence Thomas asks a question! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 29, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546 "2016-02-29T19:05:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546/21 "2016-03-01T00:43:23Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > Do you suppose Scalia kept the lid on him before? Maybe he had some juicy info on Thomas. We already had juicy info on Thomas. He got approved anyway. _rimshot_ Was that an inappropriate political jab in MPSIMS? Because sometimes the jokes just write themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546/22 "2016-03-01T00:55:25Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > To be fair, it was a perfectly fine question. It’s all-right. But given that he spent 10 years thinking of it, I would kinda hope for more. (also, isn’t the answer to the question kinda obvious? If you commit a crime and go to prison, almost all of your consitutional rights are lost, at least for the duration of your sentence.) ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546/23 "2016-03-01T01:05:15Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > To be fair, it was a perfectly fine question. But nothing that wouldn’t normally be routine that would explain “why now” Still, the lawyer apparently was so startled she didn’t answer. > [@billfish678](#): > > Heh. > > PS. If you have ever seen Teller talking it is actually kinda jarring… Really? I’ve heard him on radio and thought he had a nice voice; nice accent, lovely elocution, rather melodious. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546/24 "2016-03-01T09:58:30Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Still, the lawyer apparently was so startled she didn’t answer. > > Really? I’ve heard him on radio and thought he had a nice voice; nice accent, lovely elocution, rather melodious. It’s only jarring when you see him, and you’re not expecting him to talk. And then only the first few times. I think the “homework” is the closest reason. He had a question that he thinks Scalia would normally ask. Heck, it wouldn’t surprise me if he would sometimes tell Scalia to ask certain questions. If he’s always been quiet, maybe he doesn’t really like speaking in public. He could be that god of this board–an introvert. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546/25 "2016-03-01T10:36:22Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > It’s all-right. But given that he spent 10 years thinking of it, I would kinda hope for more. > > (also, isn’t the answer to the question kinda obvious? If you commit a crime and go to prison, almost all of your consitutional rights are lost, at least for the duration of your sentence.) But this crime, a misdemeanor, operates to deny you the legal ability to own a firearm even after any confinement ends. Thomas’ first question explored that distinction: he asked if any other misdemeanor conviction resulted in such a denial. Your summary elides the distinction between a felony and a misdemeanor. It’s well-settled that prior felonies result in loss of firearm rights, and that prior misdemeanors do not. That this particular misdemeanor does was the basis of his line of questioning. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546/26 "2016-03-01T14:57:16Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Still, the lawyer apparently was so startled she didn’t answer. > > Really? I’ve heard him on radio and thought he had a nice voice; nice accent, lovely elocution, rather melodious. Oh it’s nice. But you get SO used to him never saying a word. And also, because of that you haven’t associated any GIVEN voice to him. ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546/27 "2016-03-01T15:14:59Z")
:smack: Doesn’t sound good for all of us…its never good when someone speaks that hasn’t done so before Better that we stay ignorant…us knowing more just aggravates 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546/28 "2016-03-01T15:49:40Z")
I have to say, I approve of Thomas’s restraint on Judicial loquaciousness, as a laywer the second worst thing is be faced with a talkative judge; I am the one arguing, you’ll get the answer if you listen for 15 more seconds. The absolute worst thing? When you appear before a judge doing an impression of a statue. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546/29 "2016-03-01T16:45:54Z")
> [@WildBlueYonder](#): > > :smack: > Doesn’t sound good for all of us…its never good when someone speaks that hasn’t done so before > > Better that we stay ignorant…us knowing more just aggravates 😃 It’s not like he has kept silent. He doesn’t ask questions in court. He has [written many opinions on the cases he has heard](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/justices/thomas.dec.html). It sounds like many don’t understand that he gives his opinions often on many cases. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546/30 "2016-03-01T16:58:50Z")
Maybe he is just banking that fat paycheck till he can retire and pursue his dream career…first famous African American Mime. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546/31 "2016-03-01T19:30:38Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > It’s not like he has kept silent. He doesn’t ask questions in court. He has [written many opinions on the cases he has heard](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/justices/thomas.dec.html). It sounds like many don’t understand that he gives his opinions often on many cases. I should preface that even though I politically disagree with Thomas on a wide variety of issues, my understanding is that he gets something of an undeserved bad rap for not asking questions in oral arguments. He believes oral arguments are of low value - the Justices have already read the various briefs submitted and presumably discussed things with their clerks. Much of what happens in oral arguments is theater - some Justices have already made up their minds and others may be asking questions more as a signal to other Justices or in the hope that the of the advocates will say something that encourages a Justice to look at the conflict in a different way. I don’t recall if this podcast was the source of the above information, but it is interesting stuff for anyone interested in the Court: [http://www.onthemedia.org/story/on-the-media-2016-02-19/](http://www.onthemedia.org/story/on-the-media-2016-02-19/) ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546/32 "2016-03-01T19:35:26Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > I should preface that even though I politically disagree with Thomas on a wide variety of issues, my understanding is that he gets something of an undeserved bad rap for not asking questions in oral arguments. > 9/ Good point. He probably is right. Much of this oral arguement stuff is probably for show more than anything else. I kinda like the guy. Seems pretty nice as a person. Heck, for all I know he is my arch enemy when it comes to rulings and political alignment. But his silence is funny. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546/33 "2016-03-01T23:35:26Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I kinda like the guy. Seems pretty nice as a person. That’s the impression you got from the Anita Hill hearings? Pretty nice as a person? ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546/34 "2016-03-02T02:59:11Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > That’s the impression you got from the Anita Hill hearings? Pretty nice as a person? Oh, well, you know, that was a chick thing. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546/35 "2016-03-02T14:01:16Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > That’s the impression you got from the Anita Hill hearings? Pretty nice as a person? Well, I’d let him buy me a drink. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546/36 "2016-03-02T17:13:13Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > I have to say, I approve of Thomas’s restraint on Judicial loquaciousness, as a laywer the second worst thing is be faced with a talkative judge; I am the one arguing, you’ll get the answer if you listen for 15 more seconds. > > The absolute worst thing? When you appear before a judge doing an impression of a statue. Notice that Thomas did not interrupt the lawyer’s presentation like many of the justices do. He waited until after the lawyer was done and asked him about something that had not been covered in oral argument. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546/37 "2016-03-02T17:15:02Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Notice that Thomas did not interrupt the lawyer’s presentation like many of the justices do. He waited until after the lawyer was done and asked him about something that had not been covered in oral argument. Bless his heart. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarence-thomas-asks-a-question/747546.md?page=1)