Clarence Thomas (front,center) poses with his former law clerks
What was the most important government-related news story of 2023? Our choice comes under the heading of "Unmasking the U.S. Supreme Court." Opinion polls show public perception of the nation's highest court plummeted this year, and that largely can be attributed to one man -- Justice Clarence Thomas (with an assist from fellow GOP nominee Samuel Alito). ProPublica started unmasking Thomas and his fellow Supremes when it reported that, for more than 20 years, the justice had been treated to luxury vacations by Texas billionaire Harlan Crow. How did that affect perceptions of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS)? CNN sums it up under the headline "As Clarence Thomas faces record unpopularity, Americans want an ethics code for the Supreme Court." Reporter Harry Enten writes:
Take a look at a Marquette University Law School poll conducted in July. Just 32% of Americans rated the honesty and ethical standards of the Supreme Court justices as high, while 35% percent said they were low and 33% said they were average. . . .
From a historical standpoint, 32% is low. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, about 50% of Americans agreed that the moral and ethical practices of the Supreme Court justices were excellent or good. Only about 15%, on average, said they were poor.
In the Clarence Thomas era, SCOTUS has seen its "ethics stock" fall off a cliff. That does not surprise longtime Alabama attorney Donald Watkins, who has encountered a wide range of sleazy activity surrounding the judiciary -- both federal and state -- in a career spanning roughly 50 years. One trait that Watkins finds particularly troubling about Thomas is his tendency to embrace a peculiar kind of bigotry -- prejudice against people of his own race.
Watkins addresses the issue in a post titled "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Clarence Thomas Posing with His Former Law Clerks! It includes a photograph of Thomas posing with his former law clerks -- and if the photo includes a Black face -- other than the one belonging to Thomas -- it sure is hard to find. (The photo can be found at the top of this post.) In a post published on Christmas Day, Watkins writes:
I saved this photo for Christmas Day! It is a picture of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at a retreat with his former law clerks in 2021. Thomas refers to these law clerks as his "extended family."
You can pretty much guess who paid for this retreat at the luxurious Greenbriar Resort in West Virginia. Hint: It was NOT Clarence Thomas. (My guess? Harlan Crow.)
Clarence Thomas hires four law clerks each year. These are the people Thomas launches into the halls of power in America at the conclusion of their clerkship with him.
All of Thomas’ former law clerks worked for Republican appellate-court judges prior to getting hired by him. Unless you are blind, you can see for yourself what else these law clerks have in common.
Today, the reach of Clarence Thomas’ former law clerks is far and wide, and they wield tremendous power and influence across the nation.
So, What's Wrong with this Picture? Watkins asks:
To me, it reflects Clarence Thomas’ deep-seated racial bigotry against Black people. Thomas gets away with his "in-your-face" bigotry because he is Black -- in skin color only.
I know of no case where Clarence Thomas ruled in favor of a Black plaintiff in a civil-rights case or a Black criminal defendant during his 32 years on the federal bench. In his judicial rulings, Clarence Thomas has gone out of his way to inflict the maximum pain and suffering possible upon tens of millions of Black Americans and women.
Clarence Thomas is viewed by the overwhelming majority of Black Americans the same way the Jewish Ghetto Police were viewed by Jews living in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II.
Ultimately, the Jewish Ghetto Police shared the same fate as their fellow Jewish ghetto residents. When the Nazis liquidated the ghettos in 1942–1943, they killed the Jewish police officers on-site or sent them to extermination camps.
Read the full story about Clarence Thomas and his former law clerks in the December 24, 2023, edition of the New York Times.
When people show you who they are, believe them!
