Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Justice Clarence Thomas
It is virtually unheard of for a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court not to speak during oral arguments for an entire term, given the vocal nature of judges and the complexities of legal issues at hand. But Justice Clarence Thomas has managed a state of silence that has lasted nearly five years.
Timothy R. Johnson, a professor of political science at the University of Minnesota, told The New York Times that no other justice in the past 40 years, other than Thomas, has gone an entire year, let alone five, without piping up at least once during oral arguments.
The last time Thomas asked a question in court was during a death penalty case on February 22, 2006. Sometimes, Thomas’ silence can lead to surprising developments. Writing in The New York Times, Adam Liptak cites a 2007 free speech case, Deborah Morse v. Joseph Frederick, in which Thomas’ written opinion stated that “the Constitution does not afford students a right to free speech in public schools,” a position that had not come up in the arguments presented during the case.
Now entering his 20th year on the high court, Thomas has offered different reasons for his quiet state that range from being self-conscious about his voice to being polite to having a difficult time getting a word in because his colleagues often dominate court hearings. Georgia-born Thomas has also said that as a teenager he had trouble learning standard English because he grew up speaking Geechee (or Gullah), a dialect of the descendants of former slaves on the islands off the coast.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
No Argument: Thomas Keeps 5-Year Silence (by Adam Liptak, New York Times)
Thomas: No Questions in 2 Years (by Adam Liptak, New York Times)
Silent Justice Thomas: Not a Word Spoken (by Mark Sherman, Associated Press)
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