# The Clarence Thomas led Supreme Court **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 30, 2022, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189 "2022-06-30T15:40:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2023, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/181 "2023-10-02T23:27:19Z")
Exactly my thought too Buck. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2023, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/182 "2023-10-03T01:36:57Z")
I suspect that it has more to do with the fact that Eastman used to clerk for Thomas. He’s not principled enough to recuse because of Ginni. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2023, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/183 "2023-10-03T05:14:58Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > an easy way to put forth the pretense of judicial ethics I agree. We’ll see if the facade drops on the next one. “Hey, I gave you the recusal you were clamoring for on that previous matter, see, everything is grand, what more do you want?” ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/184 "2023-10-25T21:27:28Z")
You remember that quarter of a million dollar “loan” that Clarence Thomas got that allowed him to buy his luxury SUV? To the surprise of absolutely no one, he never paid it back. What. A. Shock. [Cite](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/25/us/politics/clarence-thomas-rv-loan-senate-inquiry.html) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/185 "2023-10-25T21:29:17Z")
Nitpick but it was a luxury RV, not a luxury SUV. ([Cite](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/25/us/politics/clarence-thomas-rv-loan-senate-inquiry.html).) ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/186 "2023-10-29T19:55:57Z")
Didn’t that fucker vote against student loan forgiveness? I wonder if he declared the forgiven loan as income, like he’s supposed to. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/187 "2023-10-29T21:40:25Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Nitpick but it was a luxury RV, not a luxury SUV. ([Cite](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/25/us/politics/clarence-thomas-rv-loan-senate-inquiry.html).) Even calling it an RV doesn’t do it justice. Its really a tricked out Tourbus. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/uecYEMoOFCA/maxresdefault.jpg "1991 Prevost Le Mirage XL Marathon // Full Time Bus Living") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uecYEMoOFCA&t=72) > [@RitterSport](#): > > I wonder if he declared the forgiven loan as income, like he’s supposed to. Signs point to no (from the article bolding mine) > Nearly nine years later, after Justice Thomas had made an unclear number of the interest payments, the outstanding debt was forgiven, an outcome with ethical and potential **tax consequences** for the justice. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/188 "2023-10-30T18:57:09Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > > [@RitterSport](#): > > > > I wonder if he declared the forgiven loan as income, like he’s supposed to. > > Signs point to no (from the article bolding mine) I guess he’ll just claim ignorance of the law. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/189 "2023-10-30T19:02:55Z")
No one would argue. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/190 "2024-03-01T01:20:59Z")
So the latest Clarence Thomas news comes from one of his newest choices for a law clerk, who had once, as a top official with right wing group Turning Point USA, sent text message saying nice things like > [@](#): > > I HATE BLACK PEOPLE. Like, fuck then all. Considering the court is on the cusp of anointing a king, it’s almost quaint. > **[The Scandal of Clarence Thomas’s New Clerk](https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-scandal-of-clarence-thomass-new-clerk)** > > Crystal Clanton became notorious for sending outlandishly racist texts. Now she’s been hired to work for the Justice—and a dubious new story has surfaced to clear her name. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/191 "2024-03-01T06:16:16Z")
Well, that’s one thing she and Clarence Thomas have in common. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/192 "2024-03-01T15:21:00Z")
I can understand the enthusiasm on Ginni’s part but it this rampant self-loathing by Clarence? The mind boggles. Is there such a dearth of law clerk candidates he _had_ to nominate her? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2024, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/193 "2024-03-02T01:21:53Z")
Yeah - I’m all for understanding/excusing youthful indiscretions if the person makes some admission and prolonged contrition/changed behavior. But this woman never denied that she had made the remarks, then she claimed she did not remember them, and then came up with some facially absurd supposed explanation about being hacked. All she had going for her was far right leanings that got her in touch w/ Ginni, and then Clarence. She attended George Mason, definitely not a top tier school. I haven’t been able to find anything saying she was on law review or otherwise especially distinguished in any way as a student - generally a requirement for even low-level clerkships. It really is astounding when so many of the most influential policy-makers feel ree to just flip off everyone else. As I saw elsewhere, imagine the reaction if Brown Jackson hired a Black clerk who had said, “I hate all white folk. Fuck them all!” ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2024, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/194 "2024-03-02T02:39:00Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > All she had going for her was far right leanings that got her in touch w/ Ginni, and then Clarence. Who she _lived with_ before going to law school (but after getting kicked out of Turning Point USA for her controversial comments). Ginni Thomas has _admitted_ that she used to be in a religious cult. She remains susceptible to insane thinking. > **[Video shows Ginni Thomas discussing her departure from Lifespring cult](https://www.businessinsider.com/unearthed-footage-shows-ginni-thomas-discussing-departure-from-a-cult-2022-4?amp)** > > Thomas was a member of the self-help group Lifespring in the 1980s. The group was known to employ cult-like tactics to keep members involved. I can only begin to imagine the pillow talk going between that woman and Clarence. ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2024, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/195 "2024-03-02T03:17:22Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I can understand the enthusiasm on Ginni’s part but it this rampant self-loathing by Clarence? The mind boggles. Is there such a dearth of law clerk candidates he _had_ to nominate her? Behind the Bastards did a 4 part series on Thomas and there’s a lot of speculation about why here’s a really rough summary: After an extremely tough childhood of being poor, being abused by his own family and facing colorism from the black community he lived in inside of a society that was obviously deeply racist against black people in general, he was one of very few black law students when he went to Yale, and many professors told him that he had to work twice as hard to succeed because people were going to think he just got there because of affirmative action. He wound up working for a Republican AG after the elite lawfirms turned him down which to him confirmed what his professors had said – that affirmative action was essentially a rug pull from white America that robbed him of the chance to succeed on an even playing field. Later as he rose the ranks in conservative circles he experienced a lot of the open racism that he was familiar with in his childhood. It seems like some of his mindset comes from the idea that he thought open racism from conservative whites was preferable to racism he experienced in elite liberal circles which was more masked and passive-aggressive. There’s a lot more to it that I don’t remember exactly but he’s a very interesting figure, and obviously we can’t actually get in his head but there’s a lot to speculate about. > **[‎Behind the Bastards: Part One: The Clarence Thomas Story on Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/part-one-the-clarence-thomas-story/id1373812661?i=1000571206147)** > > ‎Show Behind the Bastards, Ep Part One: The Clarence Thomas Story - Jul 26, 2022 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2024, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/196 "2024-03-02T08:25:55Z")
So, he hangs around conservatives and figures all white folks hate all black folks. Maybe he should have expanded his social circle. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2024, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/197 "2024-03-03T03:41:16Z")
> [@DeadTreasSecretaries](#): > > He wound up working for a Republican AG after the elite lawfirms turned him down which to him confirmed what his professors had said – that affirmative action was essentially a rug pull from white America that robbed him of the chance to succeed on an even playing field Because, of course, there is not the slightest possibility that these Elite Law Firms turned him down due to his inadequacy as a lawyer? Is it possible he could not argue a case well? Perform research well? Write a cogent memorandum of points and authorities? No, no, had to be because he was darker than Tony Orlando, that’s the only explanation. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/198 "2025-09-29T03:58:35Z")
Seriously…fuck this guy and this current court. > **[Clarence Thomas says precedent might not determine cases on upcoming supreme...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/28/clarance-thomas-precedence-supreme-court-docket)** > > The court is expected to weigh in on same-sex marriage next session, which it legalized in 2015 > “I don’t think that … any of these cases that have been decided are the gospel,” Thomas said during the rare public appearance, invoking a term which in a religious context is often used to refer to the word of God. “And I do give perspective to the precedent. But … the precedent should be respectful of our legal tradition, and our country and our laws, and be based on something – not just something somebody dreamt up and others went along with.” > > Among the various cases Thomas and his colleagues are expected to weigh in on is a request to overturn the 2015 Obergefell supreme court decision that legalized marriage for same-sex couples nationwide. Other cases being mulled by the supreme court for its 2025-2026 term involve tariffs, trans rights, campaign finance law, religious rights and capital punishment. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/199 "2025-09-29T06:08:28Z")
They need to drop the cherade and come out to directly embrace the legal theory of “because we can” ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189/200 "2025-09-29T22:04:31Z")
“something somebody dreamt up and others went along with” is literally all our laws are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-clarence-thomas-led-supreme-court/967189.md?page=11)