Clarence Thomas - 5 Year Silence

[Dr.Traveler]

If it is true, then it is a very disturbing truth. I wonder how you verify it. Isn't the SCOTUS a no camera, recording device, etc. zone?

 

[rightwinger]

Who cares how many times he "speaks"? WTF?

You fuckers are derranged.

We are talking about some very serious cases coming from both the left and the right. To think that with just 9 Justices that he would not have a single question that needs to be answered?

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt

 

[manifold]

I'm guessing it's because he's black. I'm sure William Joyce can back me up on this.

Of course that's why. A good house negro only speaks when spoken to.

 

[rightwinger]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/us/13thomas.html?_r=2&bl

Justice Thomas has given various and shifting reasons for declining to participate in oral arguments, the court’s most public ceremony.

He has said, for instance, that he is self-conscious about the way he speaks. In his memoir, “My Grandfather’s Son,” he wrote that he had been teased about the dialect he grew up speaking in rural Georgia. He never asked questions in college or law school, he wrote, and he was intimidated by some fellow students.

Elsewhere, he has said that he is silent out of simple courtesy.

“If I invite you to argue your case, I should at least listen to you,” he told a bar association in Richmond, Va., in 2000.

 

[goldcatt]

I believe it and have no particular need to put in the time as these reporters apparently did, attorneys' frustration with Thomas and his silence in orals is legendary, but the transcripts of all USSC oral arguments are available free of charge to the public. Including who says or asks what.

Here's the instructions on how to get them:

Transcripts and Recordings of Oral Arguments

Knock yourselves out, whoever wants to look through them.

 

[xsited1]

no. it's because he was never equipped to be on the supreme court.

nice try, though.

I hope you know I'm just kidding. I really don't know enough about him to say. But I do know that when I've said that Barack Obama is not equipped to be President I've been called a racist by many people.

well, about the president... your opinion isn't shared by 50% of the country. but no worries.
i do know you're kidding though about thomas.

(who still was never equipped to be a supreme court justice).

I couldn't find any approval ratings for Clarence Thomas, but I'd be willing to bet they match those of Obama. I'll just have to take your word on Thomas. I was, however, surprised when Elena Kagan was approved, but that's another topic.

 

[Liability]

The "criticism" is total horse shit.

By the time a case makes it to the SCOTUS, it has been thoroughly digested, researched, been the subject of several lower Court decisions, has had countless briefs of fine-tooth-comb legal analysis prepared and argued and counter-argeed. Then, as if that weren't enough, the litigants get to make additional oral arguments before the SCOTUS bench and get peppered by the other Jurists with questions designed to nail down the bases for the upcoming decisions. Justice Thomas has even DISCUSSED his reluctance to ask questions from the bench: "if you wait long enough, someone will ask your question."

Here's a more complete quote:

Published: December 14, 2000

JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS

Remarks yesterday in a televised question-and-answer session with high school students, when asked why he did not pose questions in oral arguments before the Supreme Court:

''There's no reason to add to the volume. I also believe strongly, unless I want an answer, I don't ask things. I don't ask for entertainment, I don't ask to give people a hard time. I have some very active colleagues who like to ask questions. Usually, if you wait long enough, someone will ask your question. The other thing, I was on that other side of the podium before, in my earlier life, and it's hard to stand up by yourself and to have judges who are going to rule on your case ask you tough questions. I don't want to give them a hard time. But I'm going to give you a more personal reason, and I think this is probably the first time I ever even told anybody about it. How old are you? You're 16. When I was 16, I was sitting as the only black kid in my class, and I had grown up speaking a kind of a dialect. It's called Geechee. Some people call it Gullah now, and people praise it now. But they used to make fun of us back then. It's not standard English. When I transferred to an all-white school at your age, I was self-conscious, like we all are. It's like if we get pimples at 16, or we grow six inches and we're taller than everybody else, or our feet grow or something; we get self-conscious. And the problem was that I would correct myself midsentence. I was trying to speak standard English. I was thinking in standard English but speaking another language. So I learned that -- I just started developing the habit of listening. And it just got to be -- I didn't ask questions in college or law school. And I found that I could learn better just listening. And if I have a question I could ask it later. For all those reasons, and a few others, I just think that it's more in my nature to listen rather than to ask a bunch of questions. And they get asked anyway. The only reason I could see for asking the questions is to let people know I've got something to ask. That's not a legitimate reason in the Supreme Court of the United States.''

In His Own Words - Justice Clarence Thomas - NYTimes.com [Emphasis added].

If Justice Thomas has determined that posing more "questions" at that point is simply posturing, then why on Earth should he have to pretend to "ask" probing meaningful questions which have already been repeatedly asked and addressed?

It's not like he doesn't already have the Constitution and precedent a-plenty to guide him.

On the other hand, if a strong line of cases have been decided in a manner which he deems to constitute a violation of the actual meaning of the Constitution, he has suggested that it is better to GET IT RIGHT than to simply adhere to "precedent." I agree. I am curious how people can possibly disagree, in fact.

 

[GHook93]

I love it one blog source says he never speaks and people just believe it! Amazing!

I agree with a prior view that this extension supports GHook. You called it in error and you could be correct. So, please support that the data is incorrect. That's all I am asking.

You can accept that I like proof of some sort? No?

The OP had proof. You just call it bullshit and walk off without citing?

I am busy as can be today. I can only take a minute or two read and then write.

I plan to research it.

 

[GHook93]

WOW!!! I am speechless!!!

hey, Ghook, it isn't just in the link used in the o/p

In the past 40 years, no other justice has gone an entire term, much less five, without speaking at least once during arguments, according to Timothy R. Johnson, a professor of political science at the University of Minnesota. Justice Thomas’s epic silence on the bench is just one part of his enigmatic and contradictory persona. He is guarded in public but gregarious in private. He avoids elite universities but speaks frequently to students at regional and religious schools. In those settings, he rarely dwells on legal topics but is happy to discuss a favorite movie, like “Saving Private Ryan.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/us/13thomas.html?_r=1

law.com wrote about it three years ago:


Two years and 142 cases have passed since Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas last spoke up at oral arguments. It is a period of unbroken silence that contrasts with the rest of the court's unceasing inquiries.

Hardly a case goes by without eight justices peppering lawyers with questions. Oral arguments offer justices the chance to resolve nagging doubts about a case, probe its weaknesses or make a point to their colleagues.

Law.com - Justice Thomas Silent Through More Than Two Years of Supreme Court Arguments

abc news covered it in 2007, saying,

Since Clarence Thomas joined the Supreme Court 16 years ago, he has largely remained silent, and his silence has become part of his mythology

Clarence Thomas: A Silent Justice Speaks Out - ABC News

even BET covered it today, though they relied on the NYT Article.

Clarence Thomas Is the Silent Justice | News | BET.com

 

[Ropey]

Justice Thomas has even DISCUSSED his reluctance to ask questions from the bench: "if you wait long enough, someone will ask your question."

A Supreme Court Justice with this view?

What if there is no "long enough" and his questions do not get asked?

I'm amazed that some would agree with this extension. On a discussion board, why not?

In my personal view, for a Supreme Court Justice to follow such an extension is a travesty.

I thought Canadians were too polite to a fault. Justice Thomas takes it to another level.

The level of invisibility.

 

[xotoxi]

I'm guessing it's because he's black. I'm sure William Joyce can back me up on this.

Tank would concur, and also conclude that he's afraid he'd break into ebonics.

 

[Uncensored2008]

Thomas isn't smart enough to ask questions.

Dat cuz he black...

BTW, don't you have a cross burning to go to?

Websters abridged notes that the proper pronunciation of the word democrat is "fucking bigot."

 

[Uncensored2008]

no. it's because he was never equipped to be on the supreme court.

Cuz he black, widdout a white leftist telling hiz watz ta do. Blacks GOTSA do what da DNC massahs tellzem.

Thomas get all uppity and shit.

 

[GHook93]

Thomas isn't smart enough to ask questions.

Dat cuz he black...

BTW, don't you have a cross burning to go to?

Websters abridged notes that the proper pronunciation of the word democrat is "fucking bigot."

She is partisan no doubt, but that is just a plain ignorant attack Jill!

 

[Uncensored2008]

Paint me skeptical, but I call bullshit!

That's because he's lying through his teeth.

It's a leftist thing.

{Justice Thomas, Opinion of the Court

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the preliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
14 PENN PLAZA LLC, et al., PETITIONERS v.
STEVEN PYETT et al.

on writ of certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the second circuit

[April 1, 2009]
Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.}


Supreme Court Collection: Opinions by Justice Thomas

Thomas was involved in questioning in 47 cases in 2010

FindLaw Supreme Court Center: Supreme Court: Justices: Clarence Thomas

Leftists are fucking scum racists and complete liars.

As everyone already knows.

 

[Uncensored2008]

I would say BS also...

I would say you're a fucking liar and a racist.

Because you are.

 

[Uncensored2008]

i'm pretty sure it's true.

No you're not.

You have no clue at all - did zero research.

Thomas is black and is NOT bowing to the left.

For that, you attack and defame.

RW is lying through his fucking teeth, as racists tend to do. You lap it up because you share his bias, blacks BETTER be obedient to the left, they BETTER know their place!

 

[McDowell's]

Justice Thomas has even DISCUSSED his reluctance to ask questions from the bench: "if you wait long enough, someone will ask your question."

A Supreme Court Justice with this view?

What if there is no "long enough" and his questions do not get asked?

I'm amazed that some would agree with this extension. On a discussion board, why not?

In my personal view, for a Supreme Court Justice to follow such an extension is a travesty.

I thought Canadians were too polite to a fault. Justice Thomas takes it to another level.

The level of invisibility.

So because he doesn't posture properly, he is disengaged and doesn't care? Maybe during the first 15 years he was on the court he figured out the statement you quoted was actually true. I imagine if at some point that was not the case, he'd ask a question.

Why does being quiet automatically equate to being stupid or disengaged?

 

[goldcatt]

Thomas isn't smart enough to ask questions.

Dat cuz he black...

BTW, don't you have a cross burning to go to?

Websters abridged notes that the proper pronunciation of the word democrat is "fucking bigot."

She is partisan no doubt, but that is just a plain ignorant attack Jill!

Anybody who's been around longer than the blink of an eye knows how ignorant this guy is proving himself to be. Let him hang himself, watching the retards spew can be entertaining. Hungry?

 

[Uncensored2008]

law.com wrote about it three years ago:


Two years and 142 cases have passed since Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas last spoke up at oral arguments. It is a period of unbroken silence that contrasts with the rest of the court's unceasing inquiries.

Well fuck, how did he do this then?

{SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
14 PENN PLAZA LLC, et al., PETITIONERS v.
STEVEN PYETT et al.

on writ of certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the second circuit

[April 1, 2009]
Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

The question presented by this case is whether a provision in a collective-bargaining agreement that clearly and unmistakably requires union members to arbitrate claims arising under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), 81 Stat. 602, as amended, 29 U. S. C. §621 et seq., is enforceable. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that this Court’s decision in Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co., 415 U. S. 36 (1974) , forbids enforcement of such arbitration provisions. We disagree and reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.}


14 PENN PLAZA LLC v. PYETT

Hey, I understand. He's black - he HAS to obey you, his leftists massahs. He's been uppity, thinking for himself and shit - you HAVE to lie about him and smear him, think of the example he sets?