Silent Justice Thomas: Not a word spoken (68 hours in court)

[IChing]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON - Justice Clarence Thomas sat through 68 hours of oral arguments in the Supreme Court's current term without uttering a word.



That's saying something — or not — even for the taciturn justice.

In nearly 16 years on the court, Thomas typically has asked questions a couple of times a term.

He memorably spoke up four years ago in cases involving cross burning and affirmative action, the court's only black justice in the unusual role of putting his race on display through questions to lawyers.

But the last time Thomas asked a question in court was Feb. 22, 2006, in a death penalty case out of South Carolina. A unanimous court eventually broadened the ability of death-penalty defendants to blame someone else for the crime.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070518/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_taciturn_thomas

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[ncteechur]

1. Gee, how about because he is as DUMB AS A FENCE POST!!!

[CBGLuthier]

2. no he isn't

The man is a lot of things but dumb is not one of them.

[dsa]

3. sometimes it's smarter to keep your mouth shut n/t

[harun]

14. I have to agree with you, in a world of talking heads who think everyone

wants to hear their voice all the time, the art of listening is dying. If the questions you have in your mind are being asked by other people why waste other peoples time?

I work with way too many people who talk just out of love of hearing themselves speak. What they say has no relevance to the meetings they are in, they waste everyone else's time and their own, and other people let them. Do you know why? Because most of the other people want to do the same thing, that is why they let them.

[Joe Bacon]

31. Hmmm, "RUBBER STAMP" comes to mind...

Slappy Thomas won't even take a tinkle without asking Rove's permission.

[noiretextatique]

39. he may not be as dumb as *

but i don't think there's any evidence that he's an intellectual giant either. if he was remotely intelligent, i don't think he would use the race-card (again) as an explanation for his "lack of curiosity." he claims he doesn't talk much because he's afraid he might start speaking gullah :eyes:
remember his "high-tech" lynching comment? thomas is comfortable playing the race card to *color* criticism of his mediocrity as "racist." i don't buy his act.

[noiretextatique]

36. dumb as a post

and unqualified to serve on the court. his appointment was a slap in the face to the memory of thurgood marshall, and to african-americans in general. he's always been a BFEE stooge...and he still is.

[saigon68]

41. A stooge for the NeoCons

Put there by Specter et al.

He will always be "long dong silver"

[Endangered Specie]

4. Better to be silent and thought the fool then to speak...

and remove any possible doubt.

[loves_dulcinea]

32. he's afraid

his gullah accent will dribble from his lips in public. really sad.

[llmart]

5. You mean he didn't ask......

"who put the pubic hair on my Coke can?"

[Spinzonner]

6. When you have all the answers figured out ahead of time

you don't need to ask any questions

[Skittles]

9. he is Scalia's poodle

it's assumed whatever Scalia thinks, so thinketh Clarence

[LibDemAlways]

7. Seems to me asking questions is an important

part of his job. Sitting there like a bump on a log, collecting a paycheck, and then consistently voting with the reichwingers makes him a worthless tool IMO.

[tabasco]

27. I agree with you. He's not doing his job. He's only a stooge for the right-wing.

Our entire government has been corrupted by these incompetent stooges.

Republicans, because of their greed and corruption, are unable to govern.

[opihimoimoi]

8. He is dumb as a bag of shit...fuck him and the worm he rides on

[BlueStater]

10. He isn't and never was qualified to be a Supreme Court Justice n/t

[MrPrax]

11. What a smear!!

Surely the man's nearly 10 months on the Federal Appeal Circuit prior to his appointment to SCOTUS prepared him for far more than Yahoo would have us believe.

Pshaw!

Actually these Thomas pieces come every five years -- this one is mild compared to another one I read 10 years ago where he didn't ask a SINGLE question for an entire sitting session!

He's getting better...it's that time on Appeals I reckon...it finally took.

[rurallib]

12. ANybody check to see if he was awake?

[mainer]

13. or alive?

what if he's been dead and stuffed? How would we know?

[phillysuse]

15. Show him a pornographic film

That will tell you if he is alive.

[kirby]

19. Funny you say that because...

On the several times I've gone to the Supreme Court to watch oral arguments, Thomas was either slumped over sleeping, nodding in/out of consciousness, or extremely bored.

I commented to my wife something to the effect of "Weekend at Bernie's" meets the Supreme Court.

[OnyxCollie]

21. Poke him with a stick. See if he moves. nt

[LiberalFighter]

24. Use a electric prod

[UTUSN]

16. K&R for SCALIA's-BITCH!!1

[Mira]

17. I think there are real similarities with incurious George

In asking questions one indicates an active and participating mind. Both are smart enough to know the questions they would bring forth would show minds as inflexible as rocks, only dumber.
Neither of them want all doubt removed about their lack of mental agility.
Neither of them really care, anyway, and it's not worth wading into risky waters.

[BrotherBuzz]

18. He's nothing but a damn spear-carrier

n.
1. A minor member of an operatic or dramatic cast, usually having no speaking part.
2. One whose presence or performance has little effect on an occurrence, group, or organization.

Last I heard, his writing was a little anemic, too.

[Hekate]

20. I believed Dr. Anita Hill. Other than that, I believe that man is a cipher. nt

[provis99]

22. his written opinions in Supreme Court cases are embarrassingly sophomoric

I can't believe that the man has reams of law clerks to help him write his legal opinions, and tell him what actually transpired in Court while he was dozing, but still puts together sentences like he never got past Reading Rainbow.

[LiberalFighter]

26. An article recently creates the impression that Thomas creates the final opinions

Consider a criminal case argued during Justice Thomas's first week. It concerned a thief's effort to get out of a Louisiana mental institution and the state's desire to keep him there. Eight justices voted to side with the thief. Justice Thomas dissented, arguing that although it "may make eminent sense as a policy matter" to let the criminal out of the mental institution, nothing in the Constitution required "the states to conform to the policy preferences of federal judges."

After he sent his dissenting opinion to the other justices, as is custom, Justices Rehnquist, Scalia and Kennedy changed their votes. The case ended up 5-4.

Justice Thomas's dissents persuaded Justice Scalia to change his mind several times that year. Even in Hudson v. McMillan, the case that prompted the New York Times to infamously label Justice Thomas the "youngest, cruelest justice," he was again, initially, the lone dissenter. Justice Scalia changed his vote after he read Justice Thomas's dissent, which said a prison inmate beaten by guards had several options for redress--but not under the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishment."

You think she is trying to rewrite history about the scumbag?

Source: The Truth About Clarence Thomas: He's an independent voice, not a Scalia lackey.

By Jan Crawford Greenburg
Wall Street Journal
January 28, 2007

She is a FEDERALIST SOCIETY member.

[enough]

23. k&r

[LiberalFighter]

25. Thomas's handlers lied about his past in Senate hearings

The background portrayed in interviews with family and friends was a stark contrast to previously manufactured tales about his beginnings as told during his confirmation hearings, Merida said.

Thomas' public biography portrayed a poverty-stricken youth who pulled himself out of Pin Point through education and hard work. But he never had much connection with his childhood home after moving to Savannah as a young boy. The authors found that Thomas was raised in a middle-class home with a much more affluent lifestyle than most of his peers.

"Supreme Discomfort" also contains quotes from Thomas' childhood friends who question many of the frequently told stories about Thomas' background and point out his refusal to visit his hometown - including family members - since joining the court.

Source: Authors find Clarence Thomas puzzling

[douglas9]

28. Anyone Doubt?

<delete>

[RufusTFirefly]

29. The word "sinecure" springs to mind.

Yes, listening is deeply underappreciated, although as I understand it, presenting before the SCOTUS is supposed to be a Socratic sort thing. Just because pundits have logorrhea doesn't mean that Justices are better if they keep their mouths shut.

[Le Taz Hot]

30. Thomas' sole contribution

to the Supreme Court is pointing to Scalia and uttering: "What he said." And THIS is the man who replaced the our national treasure, Thurgood Marshall.

[noiretextatique]

37. a stooge in a cynical race-card ploy

typical of re:puke: politicians. i remember when he embarrassed himself by whining about not being accepted by the black community because he was conservative at an NAACP event. thomas was and is an embarrassment.

[huskerlaw]

33. They're called oral arguments for a reason.

They're supposed to involve speaking and the asking and answering of questions.

While I do not think that Thomas is an idiot, I do not think he's performing his duty of a Supreme Court justice competently. How is it possible that he has not had one single question to ask any of the attorneys in cases brought before the Supreme Court in OVER A YEAR?

Listening is one thing, and it's good to a point, but how can one not engage in a discussion in over a year? Also, how can one be competent to write (or direct his clerks to write) the majority opinion on a case if he never even asked a question of the attorneys?

It's ridiculous, frankly.

[Bluebear]

34. Paging Long Dong Silver . . .

Was he even awake?

[LeFleur1]

35. Questions

People ask questions to clarify their thinking so they can make a good decision.

Thomas knows what his decision will be before the arguments. Why exert the effort to ask questions?

[olddad56]

38. he nods off a lot while seated. Maybe he is a junkie.

[ToeBot]

40. And maybe it's good thing Supreme Court Justices wear those big blousy robes n/t

[JI7]

42. he is like Bush

not qualified to be where he is.