Unquestioning Clarence.
By on May 19th, 2007 at 7:00 am
Unquestioning Clarence.
“Justice Clarence Thomas sat through 68 hours of oral arguments in the Supreme Court’s current term without uttering a word.” The last time Thomas asked a question in court “was Feb. 22, 2006, in a death penalty case out of South Carolina.”
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I am proud Clarance can keep his trap shut. Most every other person in DC is spilling beans and worms.
May 19th, 2007 at 7:03 amIt is IMPOSSIBLE to make an INTELLIGENT deduction without asking questions!
Do you think Sherlock Holmes or Columbo could make deductions without asking questions?
The man is OBVIOUSLY incompetent, if he is NOT using the most powerful tool in the arsonal of “critical thinking”!
Do not forget he was the 8 – 1 decision that ruled George W Bush did not have the power of a king.
We have a Supreme Court justice that does not believe in Habeus Corpus, what could be more STUPID!
Imagine Thurgood Marshall turning over in his grave, wondering nd why this DISGRACE not yet been impeached!
May 19th, 2007 at 7:14 amThomas is an absolute disgrace to have on SCOTUS; and he is the poster child of the cult of republicanism cynical view of America and the bush family’s corrosive impact on the US.
May 19th, 2007 at 7:15 am.
What pluege said.
May 19th, 2007 at 7:26 amLong Dong Silver.
Anita Hill for AG
May 19th, 2007 at 7:27 amThe only thing clarence needs to know is how scalia is voting.
May 19th, 2007 at 7:55 amHe’s like cheney. They sleep until the important stuff, like killing people comes up.
May 19th, 2007 at 8:10 amHe a subway-token black. All he has to do is sit there.
disgrace.
that a-hole would have overturned the emancipation proclamation.
hope he gets cancer.
really.
May 19th, 2007 at 8:36 amAre we too paralyzed or lazy as a culture to stand up to the most blatant incompetence and/or incompetants in our government? We have lost the right to call ourselves the land of the free or of the brave. I’m ashamed of our spinelessness.
May 19th, 2007 at 8:42 am“It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool then to open your mouth and remove all doubt”
The thomas corollary:
May 19th, 2007 at 9:23 am“why bother talking when everyone when everyone knows I’m a fool and a tool. Who want’s a Coke?”
I was thinking the same as number 5, when i read the article, about that idiot Thomas. Anita Hill told the truth.
May 19th, 2007 at 9:27 amHey, they don’t pay me any more whether I ask questions or not.
May 19th, 2007 at 9:48 amhas anyone posting here ever even read a thomas opinion? i’m just wondering, as a law student, and with no input into what his actual rulings are.
thomas isn’t the only judge in the world that doesn’t ask questions during oral argument–probably because he believes they’re not very necessary in light of all the detailed briefs and amicus curaie circling the offices.
May 19th, 2007 at 10:34 amNo one ever said he has any intelligence.
May 19th, 2007 at 10:51 amThere is no need for additional information because he’s already read the note from cheney/rove telling him how to vote.
May 19th, 2007 at 11:00 amAn intellectual lightweight and a Republican affirmative action horror show.
-GSD
May 19th, 2007 at 11:00 am…………..~~
May 19th, 2007 at 11:12 amWe should work to change the laws reguarding SCOTUS to ten year terms instead of lifetime appointments. Someone either has to die or quit now…is impeachment an option? I am not sure. If so lets just cam them all and start over.
May 19th, 2007 at 11:16 am“thomas isn’t the only judge in the world that doesn’t ask questions during oral argument–probably because he believes they’re not very necessary in light of all the detailed briefs and amicus curaie circling the offices.”
I would be willing to bet that Thomas does not read the briefs. All he does is ask Scalila how to vote. The man is an intellectual midget and an embarrassment to the Supreme Court. I just pray that the thinking 4 Supreme Court Justices survive until the Democrats are once again in control and then I hope that god smites the 4 Supreme Court Justices who vote according to their political or religious views.
May 19th, 2007 at 11:26 amClarence was admitted to Yale Law School because of affirmative action. The same kind of affirmative action program he voted against while on the Supreme Court. I just wonder if the reason he was appointed to SCOTUS by George H.W. Bush was to serve as a poster child for what bad things can occur if you have affirmative action?
May 19th, 2007 at 11:27 amWhy is it, “the last one through the door wants to close it”?
Clarence Thomas is a stump. Nothing more.
May 19th, 2007 at 12:25 pmSorry to let everyone down but Scalia follows Thomas on issues, not the other way around. Additionally, if Thomas is the worst Justice because he doesn’t ask questions then Scalia must be the best because he doesn’t shut up. For some interesting Thomas reading check out his dissent in Virginia v. Black. You can read it here.
May 19th, 2007 at 1:05 pmUncle Thomas has no need to ask questions because he doesn’t listen to arguments. Decisions about issues were made way back when Poppy Bush nominated him to SCOTUS.
As an African-American I would be embarrassed by his sorry performance, but as my dear mother likes to say, “Every tub rests on its own bottom.”
May 19th, 2007 at 1:34 pmNeil….above….If all a justice needs to decide a case are briefs, tell me why we bother having the Court meet…? I hope that before you finish Law School you will come to appreciate the value of questions and answers in reaching into issues that are not always clear in purposefully obfuscated written form. …and since Clarence Thomas can’t read….(but you can make a video for him, as he seems to prefer such form of entertainment).
May 19th, 2007 at 1:53 pm#18 — I agree with you. We must work to have law changed regarding Supreme Court appointments. In fact, I advocate going one step further:
Each USSC Justice represents a geographical region of the country. The first term could be by confirmation by the Congress and appointment only. After that, they have to be reelected to their position by the people in the geographical district they represent.
May 19th, 2007 at 2:11 pmwhat does CT have in common with the things in handy Manny’s box?
May 19th, 2007 at 3:56 pmHe isn’t the brightest pupil in the class…
May 19th, 2007 at 6:03 pmangryvietnamvet–have you read a brief? they’re abridged, amended, altered, a number of times, responding directly to each other’s arguments and many times pre-empting others.
oral arguments are a pretty much lost tradition in appellate courts, of which the supreme court is one. perhaps others DO get something out of them, but justice thomas does not. upon reading one of his opinions–i suggest apprendi v. new jersey, which will surprise most people–there’s very little indication that he ends up talking about peanut butter while the case is about the death penalty.
of all the things this thread could possibly criticize any SCOTUS justice for, “not asking questions during oral arguments” is probably somewhere around parking more than six inches from the curb.
May 19th, 2007 at 7:46 pmIf Scalia could learn to become a ventriloquist, he could talk, while Thomas lip-synchs whatever he’s saying. I can’t imagine Clarence disagreeing with a single word that might slither out of Antonin’s mouth.
May 19th, 2007 at 10:29 pmHe doesn’t need to ask questions. His mind is made up for him.
May 19th, 2007 at 11:22 pmre#28 neil
You expect people to believe that Clarence Thomas goes back and form with lawyers thru send and recieving papers, just as if he was going back and forth with lawyers thru speaking and hearing words?
Sorry, but not asking questions orally means NOT FORMING NEW QUESTIONS BASED ON THE LAST ANSWERS, if you cannot understand why NOT using such a powerful tool, is way more serious than how far one parks from the curb, you do not understand “critical thinking” in the least.
May 19th, 2007 at 11:40 pmDoes anyone know when this man’s pulse was last checked?
jon
May 20th, 2007 at 4:42 pmConnecting the dots: from human behaviors to ecosystem decline
http://StudentsForTheEarth.org
CT is a poster child for why affirmative action is a baddddd idea!
May 20th, 2007 at 4:44 pmClarence’s intellectual curiosity sits on par with another famous Yale grad- and neither one even pretends to be interested in what others are saying.
And, strangely, both got in as a result of a form of affirmative action- in Bush’s case they called it a “legacy” admission or some such thing…
Secret code for Daddy’s rich.
May 20th, 2007 at 11:54 pmThomas has shown what many have long suspected. That he is unfit to serve on the Supreme Court.
May 21st, 2007 at 10:39 am