Clarence Thomas

Clarence Thomas is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate in 1991, succeeding the first African American justice, Thurgood Marshall. His tenure, one of the longest in the Court's history, has been marked by a steadfastly originalist and textualist judicial philosophy, making him a central figure in the Court's conservative wing. Thomas's career has been significantly shaped by his experiences growing up in the segregated American South and his education at the College of the Holy Cross and Yale Law School.

Early life and education

Born in the small coastal community of Pin Point, Georgia, he was raised primarily by his grandfather, Myers Anderson, in Savannah after a fire destroyed his early home. He attended St. Pius X High School, a Roman Catholic school run by white Franciscan nuns, before entering St. John Vianney Minor Seminary with thoughts of the priesthood. He later attended the College of the Holy Cross, where he helped found the Black Student Union and graduated with a degree in English literature in 1971. He then earned a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1974, an experience he later suggested was marred by doubts about the legitimacy of affirmative action policies.

Legal career and early judicial service

After graduating, he was admitted to the Missouri Bar and worked as an assistant attorney general under Missouri Attorney General John Danforth. He subsequently entered private practice with the firm Monsanto in St. Louis. In 1979, he became a legislative assistant to Senator Danforth in Washington, D.C.. In 1981, he was appointed Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the Department of Education under President Ronald Reagan, and the following year became Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a role he held for eight years. President George H. W. Bush appointed him to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1990, where he served for just over a year before his elevation to the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court tenure

His confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee were among the most contentious in history, notably involving allegations of sexual harassment by former subordinate Anita Hill, a professor at the University of Oklahoma. He was confirmed by a narrow 52–48 vote. On the Court, he is known for lengthy periods of silence during oral argument and for authoring frequent solo concurrences and dissents that seek to reconsider settled precedent. He played a pivotal role in landmark decisions such as District of Columbia v. Heller, which affirmed an individual right to bear arms, and McDonald v. City of Chicago, which incorporated that right against the states. More recently, he authored the concurring opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that argued the Court should also reconsider precedents like Griswold v. Connecticut and Lawrence v. Texas.

Jurisprudence and legal philosophy

His judicial philosophy is characterized by a rigorous commitment to originalism and textualism, often aligned with but sometimes more extensive than that of his colleague Antonin Scalia. He consistently argues that the Constitution should be interpreted according to its original public meaning. This has led him to advocate for narrowing the scope of the Commerce Clause, limiting the doctrine of substantive due process, and rejecting the use of foreign law in constitutional interpretation. He has written extensively that the Fourteenth Amendment's Privileges or Immunities Clause, not the Due Process Clause, should be the primary vehicle for protecting fundamental rights and applying the Bill of Rights to the states, a view articulated in his dissent in Obergefell v. Hodges.

Personal life and public perception

He is married to Virginia Thomas, a conservative activist and founder of Liberty Central. His close friendship with wealthy benefactors like Harlan Crow and his extensive travel on private planes and yachts have drawn significant ethical scrutiny and calls for stricter ethics rules for the federal judiciary. He is a devout Catholic and an avid fan of NASCAR and Cornell football. Perennially described as one of the Court's most conservative members, he is a revered figure among many on the American right and a frequent target of criticism from the political left, particularly regarding his votes on issues like affirmative action, voting rights, and campaign finance.

Category:Associate justices of the Supreme Court of the United States Category:1948 births Category:Living people