Said Harlan Crow, quoted in "Lawmakers Call for Tighter Ethics Code After Revelations About Justice Thomas/An investigation by ProPublica revealed that Clarence Thomas accompanied Harlan Crow, a conservative donor and real estate billionaire, on a series of luxury vacations without disclosing them" (NYT).
Could ProPublica — or some other organization (the NYT?) — do the same investigation into the hospitality accepted by the other Supreme Court Justices? Was Clarence Thomas focused on because he was known to be way outside the norm or for political reasons? Anyone who at all likes Clarence Thomas is going to be highly suspicious — if not already convinced — that they're going after him because they already hate him.
What is the usual experience of visiting wealthy friends and at what point should we object? Do we want monkish judges? I intensely admire the Justice Souter lifestyle. As Sandra Day O'Connor described it:
Justice Souter did not accept many of the numerous invitations sent to him for social events in Washington, D.C. He typically declined invitations for speaking engagements throughout the United States and in other countries as well. He preferred to return to New Hampshire at every opportunity. For years, he had a Volkswagen automobile, and he would drive it up to Weare as soon as the Term ended and as soon as the holiday and winter recesses occurred. While in Washington, D.C., he would rise early every day and run on the grounds of the Naval base at the foot of Capitol Hill before coming to the Court for the balance of the day and often late into the evening. He remained a bachelor and had no need to interrupt his work to meet family obligations, as most of the Justices typically would do. Now, back in New Hampshire, Justice Souter has managed to replace his daily Capitol Hill runs with frequent hikes across the White Mountains near his home.
Beautiful. Perfect. But sublimely different from everybody else. If he's at one end of a continuum, is Justice Thomas at the other end, or are there other Justices with even swankier sojourns among the billionaires? And where are all the others in between — nestling at the Souter end?
I'm also interested in what sort of legal analysis we get from different types of judges. Souter represents a lifestyle ideal, but what sort of mind comes with that and do we want that mind deciding our cases?
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Is there evidence of advocacy to force or influence Thomas's trans/Americanism? This can be settled with a measure of degrees of separation from Declaration and Constitution.
Dream on, Ann.
Had the impression Scalia the hunter hung out with rich businessmen.
Perhaps Thomas was picked because he reported extravagant gifts from Crow then stopped reporting. Says he will go back to reporting.
Most Supreme Court Justices indulge constantly in invitations from universities and NGO/non-profit institutions here and overseas that may have a veneer of intellectual purpose but are just as much or more about being wined and dined in opulence.
I suspect Souter hated being on the Court. He quit very early. He seemed practically phobic about contact with other people. But I don't see this tendency in his actual work.
Seems better than waiting until you can't stay awake anymore, and the Justice becomes a bobble head like the bobble head of the Justice.
Souter was a horrible justice.
It's like saying 'Hitler was kind to animals.'
The attacks on Clarence Thomas are common on the left. After all, who would expect a black man to be conservative ? It will build to a Trump-like frenzy as the affirmative action decision nears. I expect another "leak" of the decision before it is announced, like the abortion decision, intended to stir up the frenzy.
The left is steadily getting progressively (no pun intended) more violent in its reaction to anyone disagreeing.
Souter and Kagan never married. Sotomayor is divorced. It's different when you're married and the spouse and/or children expect something more than staycations in a cramped apartment. And it's different if you didn't marry into money. Breyer married into the British aristocracy. Brown Jackson married into the American aristocracy (when the Cabots only spoke to Lowells and the Lowells only spoke to God, Boston's Jacksons were business and marital partners to both, though how much money came with the pedigree, I don't know). Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. also married a Jackson to produce Oliver Jr.
That's not to excuse Clarence Thomas. It's just to show off my knowledge of genealogy. I would have been Cleveland Amory if I liked animals.
I remember reading about the Obama's and their vacation aboard some Hollywood billionaire's yacht. Of course, Obama was retired then and had no influence in Washington, so it was all on the up and up....Be interesting to see the guest list at Epstein's island. Be interesting to see a journalist taking an interest in seeing that guest list.
AOC says, that If No One will impeach Thomas over this.. SHE will; using the Power of One Woman
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., renewed her calls for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to be impeached after a report detailed the justice's close relationship with a billionaire Republican donor — going so far as to say she will do it herself.
Clarence Thomas must be discredited at every opportunity because he's one of those Uncle-Tom-uppity-house-......
Errrr. This has been the left's routine strategy following his nomination to the SC. Controversy over a Pepsi can and pubic hair? What if he had been transgender back then?
Supreme court rules allows visits to personal friends.
https://twitter.com/AdamMortara/thread/1644045738480144384
Could ProPublica — or some other organization (the NYT?) — do the same investigation into the hospitality accepted by the other Supreme Court Justices?
I suspect that would not be politically expedient for the Democrats in control of the NYTimes.
A trip with a billionaire is a gift from the billionaire to himself. He gets the companionship of his friend on his jaunt. Otherwise it's just travel.
Did Propublica do a deep investigation of other justices or is there something about a conservative Black man that warrants greater scrutiny?
"Anyone who at all likes Clarence Thomas is going to be highly suspicious — if not already convinced — that they're going after him because they already hate him."
It is not necessary to like Clarence Thomas to recognize the absolute certainty that anything the NYT writes about him will be a pack of lies. It is only necessary to be familiar with his politics, and the complete lack of anything resembling ethics at the modern NYT.
I'm just sorry that the Lost Liberty Hotel was never built in Souter's home state of New Hampshire.
Run on the Naval grounds huh. Daily. Sounds like special privilege to me. The general public damn sure are not allowed to do that. Too late for an investigation I guess.
I continue to appreciate Professor Emerita Althouse's unique blogging take on this particular Justice Thomas story. Hers is a sensible, interesting take. I enjoy reading it.
But I continue to think that the truly shocking SCOTUS story of the 2020's is Ginni Thomas. Ginni Thomas, who apparently still thinks that Trump won the 2020 election. Ginni Thomas, who lobbied Arizona legislators to reverse the election results. Ginni Thomas, who was texting with Mark Meadows on 1/6/21. Ginni Thomas; self-professed reformed deprogrammed former cult member.
For the rest of you; be my guest, in assuming that this is a grand "mainstream media" conspiracy against Justice Thomas. For my part, I presume that if any of the maniacs at Fox News, or Breitbart, or the Gateway Pundit, or Powerline, or the Federalist, or one of the other TrumpWing extremist outlets had some negative story on Kagan or Sotomayor or Jackson, that they would run with it for all it's worth. (And granted, there isn't a lot of "news" going on at any of them. Their shit-eating little operations -- Fox excepted -- are not about investigative journalism at all. They don't hire qualified reporters, or indeed any staff, to do that kind of work.) So go for it. Have at it. See if one of the liberals has Thomas-like exposure on these issues.
"or for political reasons?"
Yes.
"Anyone who at all likes Clarence Thomas is going to be highly suspicious — if not already convinced — that they're going after him because they already hate him."
Well, they do, therefore . . .
"Do we want monkish judges?"
No.
"Souter represents a lifestyle ideal.
I guess you could call it an ideal, but what's so great about it? No kids, no sociability, no teaching, no connections with other leaders.
I think you are assuming a few things Althouse. SDO's description of Souter does not say whether he did stuff like Thomas, only that he turned down most speaking requests and overall led a pretty simple life. It certainly does not eliminate a few vacations paid by a wealth buddy.
And Thomas went on some vacations with a wealthy friend...were those exceptions or the rule?
Souter's decisions were just as weird as his life style. I remember spending hours trying to decipher an opinion he wrote on the retroactivity of judicial decisions. Fortunately, Justice Thomas wrote a subsequent decision that clearly explained what Souter had been trying to say. Souter is definitely someone who marches to the beat of a different drummer--one who is from a planet other than Earth.
Souter's decisions were just as weird as his life style. I remember spending hours trying to decipher an opinion he wrote on the retroactivity of judicial decisions. Fortunately, Justice Thomas wrote a subsequent decision that clearly explained what Souter had been trying to say. Souter is definitely someone who marches to the beat of a different drummer--one who is from a planet other than Earth.
Why, oh why focus on Justice Thomas?
Bait NOT taken.
I assume “lawmakers” are all democrats. My response is **** off. I have given/received hospitality from friends. This is host more democrat crap from the democrat propaganda media.
Still "moderating"
"Early in my tenure at the Court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable.
I have endeavored to follow that counsel throughout my tenure, and have always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines. These guidelines are now being changed, as the committee of the Judicial Conference responsible for financial disclosure for the entire federal judiciary just this past month announced new guidance. And, it is, of course, my intent to follow this guidance in the future." - Clarence Thomas
So- reporting such trips hasn't been necessary in the past but going forward, will be required and Mr. Thomas will follow such policies?
Is that about right?
Aside from being upset that Mr. Thomas neglected to abide by policies that didn't exist, what is it the left is getting its panties in a bunch over, anyway?
A "lifestyle ideal". I think it's a very sad lifelong lifestyle.
I have no problems with Justice Thomas's associations. He has lifelong proven himself to be a strong minded man who does not easily fall under the influence of others.
"I don't have any problem with going to Europe, but I prefer the United States, and I prefer seeing the regular parts of the United States. I prefer the RV parks. I prefer the Walmart parking lots to the beaches and things like that. There's something normal to me about it. I come from regular stock, and I prefer that — I prefer being around that." -Clarence Thomas
Will Thomas at least drop the aw-shucks Joe Sixpack routine?
No, I don't want a monk or other asocial person as a supreme judge. They,by choice or otherwise, lack knowledge of a rich part of humanity
In a statement, Thomas acknowledged that he and his wife, Ginni Thomas, had joined billionaire GOP megadonor Harlan Crow and his wife Kathy on a number of “family trips” during the more than a quarter century they have known them.
“Early in my tenure at the court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable,” Thomas said.
“I have endeavored to follow that counsel throughout my tenure, and have always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines,” he said.
if Propublica found the details in some declaration-form provided by Clarence Thomas to [authority/recipient x] would not there be such forms from other ?
These guidelines are now being changed, as the committee of the Judicial Conference responsible for financial disclosure for the entire federal judiciary just this past month announced new guidance.
==========
who egged on the Conference to initiate process to have Clarence lay Easter-eggs for ProPublica to toss at Clarence?
"Of course, Obama was retired then and had no influence in Washington"
Ahem, who do you think is running the Biden show?
FANCY PROPUBLICA PROPAGANDA STORY: CLARENCE THOMAS GOES ON LUXURY VACATIONS WITH BILLIONAIRE. Sorry, but if it’s not to an island owned by a pedophile who gets suicided in prison and whose client list is shrouded in secrecy surpassed only by the Las Vegas mass shooting footage and Obama’s college transcript, I refuse to care. After all, ProPublica doesn’t.
https://instapundit.com/
Has anyone said judges should be monkish?
Sheesh, I would like to think that a law prof would be able to come up with a less lame argument.
Scalia was a guest of John Poindexter at the latter's ranch when he was deemed to have died of natural causes, by someone who did not view the body or order an autopsy. Did Scalia pay his way for his ranch getaway? Did his surviving family get an invoice for the trip's expenses?
So Crow didn’t know Thomas until Thomas was on the SCOTUS. And then Crow started dumping money into stuff (like a museum) that benefited Thomas. And then Crow started giving big dough to the Mrs. At that point Crow was a friend of Thomas so Crow started giving stuff to Thomas directly. This is all personal hospitality, we are told.
Crow, a big time R money donor did all this after Thomas was on the court.
Shouldn’t buying a judge be harder than simply saying that your payment for the judge isn’t a payment, it’s just personal hospitality?
FTR, the laptop from hell and such stuff still doesn’t have a penny that went to the big guy.
““For three decades, Crow has served on the board of trustees of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), which has published and taken credit for multiple amicus briefs filed with the supreme court by the group’s president and scholars.”
Crow joined the AEI in 1996, the same year he said he became friends with Thomas.”
https://news.yahoo.com/harlan-crow-real-estate-magnate-154029485.html
propublica is funded by the subprime criminals the sendlers, who has as much role as aig and goldman in the collapse of a dozen years ago, curiously there were very few prosecutions of same, then again since enron they picked the wrong targets,
I like WALMART PARKING LOTS A regular guy me and Ginny ! Most corrupt group in long time less popular than poison ivy regular folk. As Melody says "I don't really care ,do you? evidently not.
“Still "moderating"”
What’s it to you if Althouse is still moderating. Last I looked this is still Althouse’s blog, not yours. You’re getting as creepy as Achilles was.
Is an invitation from a rich friend a gift?
J Farmer
You should read his life story if tou want some aw fucking shucks.
Farmer.
Why do you assume he's being dishonest?
What this tells me is that I need to get some new friends. None of my current friends have private jets and luxury yachts.
This is less objectionable to me than RBG's friendship with Totenberg.
How many babies had to die because Bush the father botched that supreme pick giving it to a stealth liberal, delaying the super majority that would come much later. Millions?
Will Thomas at least drop the aw-shucks Joe Sixpack routine?
Just because you don't like him or driving around in an RV, which he and his wife are well known for doing, try to keep the snark level down.
“Will Thomas at least drop the aw-shucks Joe Sixpack routine?”
Why in the fuck should he?
“Will Thomas at least drop the aw-shucks Joe Sixpack routine?”
Why in the fuck should he?
"Souter represents a lifestyle ideal..."
Says you. I'm sure other people have different ideas about that.
Why would you admire Singer's lifestyle? It is not what I aspire to.
What about the huge carbon footprint of the Thomases going on these vacations? And think how the money spent on these luxury vacations could've been used to help the homeless or fund inner city public schools.
Will no one think of the children?
The Justice Souter lifestyle was on par with the Gov Jerry Brown lifestyle (first time around). Great. Now if only they hadn't sucked at their jobs. Admire Epictetus all you want, but gimme Clarence Thomas on the high court.
Souter wouldn’t be even close to the ascetic end of continuum, that would be Robespierre the Incorruptible.
Will Thomas at least drop the aw-shucks Joe Sixpack routine?
I travelled around the world as a Trade Finance consultant. Ate many meals on the dime of very rich people on six continents. (Antarctica awaits me.) Some places I loved, some not so much.
I grew up living poor in Appalachia. Wanted out so badly. Now the RV thing sounds really good to me. I find that I love the people of my country, and the place where I started.
Seeing the world outside your own world is no bad thing, even if in the end you want to come back home.
Do we want monkish judges?
If they're appointed by Republicans, yes. (Judges appointed by Democrats can do whatever they want.)
Read Justice Thomas' statement. Of course he's the most dependable Originalist & they were looking for a way to get rid of him. It's obvious like everything else the left does that is supported by the press.
He's a hypokrite and a douche of a judge with decades of hate in his forsaken sole
Why is it okay for Presidents to stay in rich donors houses whilst on Vacation on Martha's vineyard or St Croix??
https://nypost.com/2022/12/28/biden-staying-at-st-croix-villa-of-donors-who-got-state-dinner-invite/
dark money allowed them to smear Kavanaugh, it forced Breyer off the Court, lets not pretend this is about anything but knocking one of the few obstacles to the regime, out of play,
He has a note, from those who make such decisions, allowing nonreporting of his trips, etc., so if you want to try another high tech lynching, go for it. The results will be as embarrassing to Dems as the first attempt.
I recall Leahy & Kennedy laughing together at the close of the 1st Thomas show trial, not realizing their microphones were still live, laughing about their performance, and that it would have an impact "if anybody was watching" chuckle, chuckle. Eff 'em all to Hell.
Judges appointed by Democrats can do whatever they want.
A vote for human rites, redistributive change, conflicts without borders, etc. comes with "benefits" including liberal license and indemnity.
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