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☆ Justice Clarence Thomas has a long history of accepting expensive gifts, including a long-time friend paying for his 1987 wedding reception: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Justice Clarence Thomas' acceptance of lavish gifts stretches back decades, per a new NYT report. These include his 1987 wedding reception, paid for by a friend before he joined the Supreme Court, it said. In its latest report, the Times detailed lavish gifts, some of which pre-date Thomas' time on the Supreme Court. "And, in return, he opened up the Supreme Court." Thomas is far from the only Supreme Court Justice to have received expensive gifts in the course of their tenure.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Thomas, Harlan Crow, Crow, Armstrong Williams, Horatio Alger, Williams, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia, — Thomas Organizations: Supreme, Service, New York Times, Opportunity Commission, Times, Horatio, Distinguished, Horatio Alger Association, Justice, LA Times Locations: Wall, Silicon, Thomas, Virginia

☆ John Roberts and Clarence Thomas Have the ‘Colorblind’ Constitution Wrong - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Jamelle Bouie | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If nothing else, the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard is a victory for the conservative vision of the so-called colorblind Constitution — a Constitution that does not see or recognize race in any capacity, for any reason. As Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his opinion for the court, “Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.” Or as Justice Clarence Thomas put it in his concurrence, “Under our Constitution, race is irrelevant.”The language of colorblindness that Roberts and Thomas use to make their argument comes directly from Justice John Marshall Harlan’s lonely dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson, the decision that upheld Jim Crow segregation. Our Constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens,” wrote Harlan, who would have struck down a Louisiana law establishing “equal but separate” accommodations on passenger railways. But there’s more to Harlan’s dissent than his most frequently cited words would lead you to believe. It’s not that segregation was wrong but that, in Harlan’s view, it was unnecessary.

Persons: John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, “, Roberts, Thomas, John Marshall Harlan’s, Plessy, Ferguson, Jim Crow, ”, Harlan, It’s Organizations: Harvard Locations: Louisiana

☆ A shadowy club in California recently associated with Clarence Thomas is being sued for multiple labor violations. Here's what the secret retreat is known for.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Former workers, known as valets, are suing an elite men's club for alleged labor violations. The Bohemian Club has been associated with right-wing political figures, including Clarence Thomas. The suit names Bohemian Club treasurer William Dawson as someone who directly asked employees to "falsify payroll records." The club is also known for hosting "Lakeside Talks," where members, often those of the political elite, speak about policy ideas. The Bohemian Club and a lawyer for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, —, Harlan Crow, Thomas, valets, William Dawson, Sam Singer, Singer, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, Alex Jones Organizations: Bohemian, Service, GOP, Bohemian Club, Pomella, Press Democrat, Club, Grove Locations: California, Monte Rio , California, Bohemian

☆ Chief Justice Roberts hasn't become less conservative. He's just more concerned with the Supreme Court's legacy than partisanship.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Chief Justice John Roberts voted with the liberals on the Supreme Court in key cases this term. Hardline conservatives have soured on the chief justice for his opinions siding with the Court's liberal justices in recent years. "Roberts' is the one whose name will be attached to this — it is the Roberts Court. The Times found in this term, the chief justice voted less often with the conservative majority and voted with liberal Justice Elena Kagan 14% more than the last term. "And I think Roberts perhaps has more of a concern with that kind of perspective because he's in the Court's center chair, because his name is attached to it, because it's his legacy."

Persons: John Roberts, SCOTUS, Roberts, —, Roberts —, George W, Bush, William Rehnquist —, Justin Crowe, Crowe, I'm, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, hasn't, Elena Kagan Organizations: Service, GOP, Williams University, Washington Post, The New York Times, Times

☆ Takeaways from the latest controversial and contentious Supreme Court term
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Ariane De Vogue | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

In his opinion blocking the student debt program, Roberts insisted he is concerned about criticisms of the court. “Make no mistake: Supreme Court ethics reform must happen whether the Court participates in the process or not,” he warned. In June, the court sided with a cement mixing company that sought to bypass federal labor law and sue a union in state court for the destruction of property caused by striking workers. On Tuesday, when Roberts announced the court’s opinion in Moore v. Harper, liberals and even some conservatives exhaled, relieved that the court was rejecting a controversial Trump-backed election law theory. “Justice Jackson has a different view,” he said at one point.

Persons: John Roberts, Roe, Wade, ” Roberts, Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, he’d, Joe Biden’s, Roberts –, –, It’s, Donald Trump’s, ”, Gorsuch, Neil Gorsuch, Bostock, Lorie Smith, ” Alito, Alito, Dobbs, Jackson, Brett Kavanaugh’s, hadn’t, Paul Singer, Singer, ProPublica, “ we’d, “, ” ProPublica, Thomas, Dick Durbin, Elena Kagan, KBJ, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Dr, Adam Feldman, ” Feldman, Sonia Sotomayor, Kagan, Barrett, Thomas couldn’t, ” Jenny Hunter, ” Jackson, ‘, Harper, exhaled, Barack Obama, Rick Hasen –, Hasen, Moore, Thomas Long, Kevin Merida, Michael Fletcher, “ Justice Jackson, Thomas ’ “, ” Thomas Organizations: CNN, Civil, Creative, Politico, Wall Street Journal, Street, GOP, Illinois Democrat, pounced, University of North, National Labor Relations, Independent, Trump, Federal, “, UNC Locations: Colorado, Washington , DC, United States, “, Rome, Illinois, American, Moore, North Carolina

☆ Along With Conservative Triumphs, Signs of New Caution at Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Adam Liptak | Alicia Parlapiano | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Supreme Court ended its term this week in familiar fashion, issuing blockbuster conservative decisions on affirmative action, gay rights and student loans that divided along partisan lines, with the court’s three Democratic appointees in dissent. While not quite as stunning as last June’s decisions eliminating the right to abortion and expanding gun rights, the new rulings were of a piece with them and were a further indication that the court remains receptive to the conservative legal movement’s agenda, including cutting back on a progressive conception of civil rights and frustrating President Biden’s initiatives. But the entire story of the most recent term is considerably more complicated than that of the previous one, which had seemed to establish an unyielding conservative juggernaut characterized by impatience and ambition — and built to last. A year later, the court remains deeply conservative but is more in tune with the fitfully incremental approach of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who is attentive to his court’s legitimacy, than with the take-no-prisoners approach of Justice Clarence Thomas. The chief justice’s strategy — and votes — produced a fair number of liberal victories.

Persons: —, John G, Roberts, Clarence Thomas Organizations: Democratic

☆ By striking down affirmative action, the Supreme Court put forth a dangerous and false ideal of 'colorblindness'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Trisha Gopal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Sotomayor and Thomas are both the likely beneficiaries of affirmative action. A student at Harvard University at a rally in support of keeping affirmative action policies outside the Supreme Court on October 31, 2022. A young boy at the University of California, Berkeley in 1995 as students and families protested to keep affirmative action policies. In a statement following the ruling, former president Barack Obama wrote, "Like any policy, affirmative action wasn't perfect. Roberts accused the colleges' affirmative action programs of "employ[ing] race in a negative manner" without any "meaningful end points."

Persons: Sotomayor, —, Clarence Thomas, Thomas, Sonia Sotomayor, colorblindness, Colorblindness, Howard Schultz, Tomi Lahren, Plessy, Ferguson, John Marshall Harlan, Antonin Scalia, Justice Roberts, Harlan's, David Butow, Roberts, Barack Obama, Michelle, haven't, Evelyn Hockstein, Michelle Obama, Katherine Phillips, Phillips Organizations: Supreme, Service, Harvard University, University of North, Latina, Yale Law School, Starbucks, Washington Post, Getty, Black, Seattle School District, University of California, Harvard, UCLA, UC, REUTERS, Princeton, Scientific, Columbia Business Locations: Berkeley, University of North Carolina, California, Idaho

☆ Supreme Court's affirmative action decision sets 'race-neutral' standard in college admission decisions
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —When the Supreme Court cut affirmative action out of college admissions programs Thursday, it did not outlaw the goal of achieving diversity, but it set a new “race-neutral” standard for considering applicants. Justice Clarence Thomas, who wrote his own concurring opinion, uses the term “race neutral” repeatedly, offering it as an antidote to affirmative action. For more on this view, read this piece in The Atlantic by scholars Uma Jayakumar and Ibram Kendi: “‘Race Neutral’ Is the New ‘Separate but Equal.’”What have race-neutral admissions policies accomplished? They can, presumably, still utilize affirmative action even though they are the higher learning institutions over which the federal government has the most control. Multiple corporations – from Apple to IKEA – asked the Supreme Court to allow affirmative action to continue so that their potential workforce is more diverse.

Persons: John Roberts, Roberts, they’ve, Clarence Thomas, Thomas, Sonia Sotomayor, ”, Uma Jayakumar, Laura Coates, CNN’s Nicquel Terry Ellis, Zack Mabel, Terry Ellis, CNN’s Leah Asmelash, Ronald Brownstein Organizations: CNN, Public, Institute of California, University of California’s, UC, UC enrollees, UC Berkeley, Harvard University, Georgetown University Center, Education, Workforce, Georgetown’s Center for Education, IKEA –, Republican Locations: California, Michigan, Thomas, California In California, enrollees, UC enrollees, American, America, Apple

☆ The Supreme Court justices paid an average of $42,539 to go to college. Today, they'd have to pay around $320,531.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Sarah Al-Arshani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Supreme Court struck down Biden's student loan forgiveness plan. Student loan payments will likely resume in October. For the justices behind the decision, the cost of an undergraduate degree was much cheaper when they were in school. According to EDI, there was a 2,807% increase in the average student loan debt at graduation between 1970 and 2021 before adjusting for inflation. Student loan borrowers gathered at the Supreme Court today to tell the court that student loan relief is legal on January 2, 2023.

Persons: —, Joe Biden's, Biden, Clarence Thomas, Wally McNamee, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, John Roberts, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Roberts, Jackson, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, Larry French, Thomas, Gorsuch Organizations: Service, Republicans, White, Education Data Initiative, The College of, Princeton University, Harvard, Yale, Columbia University, Rhodes College, Associated Press, AP

☆ Conservatives are on a roll in their quest to remake America through the courts
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The Supreme Court’s gutting of affirmative action in college admissions on Thursday toppled another pillar of America’s liberal social infrastructure. The wider political battleThe court’s activism is being complimented by increasingly radical conservative legislatures in many states. The Supreme Court ruled that June that same-sex couples could marry in all 50 states and upheld the Affordable Care Act. And President Joe Biden’s view of the conservative majority on the bench could hardly be more dark. This allowed Trump to name Justice Neil Gorsuch as his first Supreme Court nominee in 2017.

Persons: CNN — Conservatives –, –, Franklin Roosevelt –, Roe, Wade, Ron DeSantis, Republicans –, Clarence Thomas ’, “, Dobbs, Matt Schlapp, Thomas, perversely, Barack Obama, ” Obama, Joe Biden’s, ” Biden, Obama, Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Merrick Garland, Biden, Trump, Neil Gorsuch, McConnell, Amy Coney Barrett Organizations: CNN — Conservatives, Biden, Trump, White, Senate, GOP, Republican, Florida Gov, House, Republicans, Political Action, thunderbolts, Democratic, Liberal, Supreme, Conservative, Republican Party, White House, Independent Locations: Colorado, America, –

June 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, effectively prohibiting affirmative action policies long used to raise the number of Black, Hispanic and other underrepresented minority students on campuses. "Harvard and UNC admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause," Roberts wrote, referring to the constitutional provision. Affirmative action had withstood Supreme Court scrutiny for decades, most recently in a 2016 ruling involving a white student, backed by Blum, who sued the University of Texas after being rejected for admission. Jackson did not participate in the Harvard case because of her past affiliation with the university. The ruling did not explicitly say it was overruling landmark precedent upholding affirmative action.

Persons: Constitution's, Edward Blum, Roe, Wade, John Roberts, Roberts, Blum, Donald Trump, Trump, Thursday's, Joe Biden's, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Jackson, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Sotomayor, Peter Hans, Hans, Clarence Thomas, Bollinger, Andrew Chung, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Harvard University, University of North, Harvard, UNC, Fair, Universities, University of Texas, Republican, America, Liberal, Jackson, Asian, Civil, University of North Carolina, Thomson Locations: University of North Carolina, U.S, States, Black, America, New York

☆ Clarence Thomas says he's 'painfully aware the social and economic ravages which have befallen my race' as he rules against affirmative action
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Supreme Court struck down affirmative action policies at Harvard and UNC. Thomas said he's aware of the obstacles faced by 'my race,' but ruled affirmative action was discriminatory. Thomas declared "the Constitution prevails" in his opinion as the Supreme Court effectively outlawed affirmative action at US colleges and universities. In a 6-3 decision, the high court ruled that policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina were unconstitutional. Thomas then wrote affirmative action is also discrimination, calling the policies "rudderless, race-based preferences designed to ensure a particular racial mix in" Harvard and UNC's "entering classes."

Persons: Justice Clarence Thomas, Thomas, he's, —, Clarence Thomas, Brown, Neil Gorsuch, Ketanji Brown Jackson — Organizations: Harvard, UNC, Justice, Service, Supreme, Harvard University, University of North, of Education Locations: Independence, United States, University of North Carolina

☆ Supreme Court rejects affirmative action at colleges as unconstitutional
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

watch nowThe Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the affirmative action admission policies of Harvard and the University of North Carolina are unconstitutional. Justice Clarence Thomas, a Black conservative who wrote a concurring opinion, said that the schools' affirmative action admissions policies "fly In the face of our colorblind constitution. In her dissent to the majority, liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who is Black, called the ruling "truly a tragedy for us all." In doing so, she argued the Supreme Court "cements a superficial rule of colorblindness as a constitutional principle in an endemically segregated society where race has always mattered and continues to matter." U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor Getty Images

Persons: John Roberts, Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Thomas, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Chip Somodevilla, Sonia Sotomayor, Sotomayor, Sonia Sotomayor Getty Organizations: Harvard, University of North, U.S, Supreme, of Harvard College Locations: University of North Carolina, Washington ,

Jackson and Thomas, reflecting a deep divide in the United States, diverged on how race must be treated in the law. Thomas wrote a concurring opinion accompanying the ruling that said Jackson's "race-infused world view falls flat at each step." "Our country has never been colorblind," Jackson wrote in her dissenting opinion, which was joined by the two other liberal justices. Much of what Thomas wrote on Thursday was directed at Jackson. "Justice Thomas ignited too many straw men to list, or fully extinguish," Jackson wrote.

Persons: Ketanji Brown Jackson, Clarence Thomas, Jackson, Thomas, Jackson myopically, Ilya Somin, Jim Crow, Michael Dorf, Justice Jackson, John Roberts, Black, Joe Biden, Andrew Chung, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Constitution, George Mason University, Black, Cornell Law, Harvard, UNC, Democratic, Thomson Locations: United States, U.S, Southern, New York

☆ Ketanji Brown Jackson accuses Clarence Thomas of having 'an obsession with race consciousness' and relying on 'many more straw men' than can be listed in his affirmative action opinion
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ketanji Brown Jackson said Clarence Thomas's opinion showed "an obsession with race consciousness." In his own 57 page long concurring opinion, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas — a staunch conservative appointed by Republican President George H.W. "Worse still, Justice Jackson uses her broad observations about statistical relationships between race and select measures of health, wealth, and well-being to label all blacks as victims. "Given our history, the origin of persistent race-linked gaps should be no mystery," Jackson wrote. "Justice Thomas ignites too many more straw men to list, or fully extinguish, here," Jackson wrote.

Persons: Ketanji Brown Jackson, Clarence Thomas's, —, Clarence Thomas —, George H.W, Bush —, Joe Biden, Thomas, Jackson Organizations: Service, United States Supreme, Republican, University of North Locations: University of North Carolina

☆ Clarence Thomas and Ketanji Brown Jackson criticize each other in unusually sharp language
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Devan Cole | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Washington CNN —The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling Thursday on affirmative action pitted its two Black justices against each other, with the ideologically opposed jurists employing unusually sharp language attacking each other by name. Justice Clarence Thomas and the court’s other four conservatives joined Roberts’ opinion. Thomas has previously acknowledged that he made it to Yale Law School because of affirmative action, but he has long criticized such policies. (While Jackson recused herself from the Harvard case, she did hear the UNC case, and her dissent was focused on the latter.) In his memoir, “My Grandfather’s Son,” Thomas says he felt “tricked” by paternalistic Whites at Yale who recruited Black students.

Persons: John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Roberts, Thomas, Ketanji Brown Jackson, ”, ” Thomas, “, Jackson, Sonia Sotomayor, Thomas ’, “ ‘, ” “, ” Jackson, Black, he’d Organizations: Washington CNN, Harvard, University of North, Yale Law School, UNC, CNN, Whites, Yale, “, University of Michigan Law School, White, Bollinger Locations: University of North Carolina, Independence, United States, Yale

☆ Opinion | Harvard Undermined Itself on Affirmative Action
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( David French | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

There’s an old saying in the legal profession: Bad facts make bad law. Sometimes, however, bad facts highlight the need for better law. On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that, in the case of college admissions, the bad facts of racial discrimination created the necessity of a new standard. The defendant, Harvard University, had repeatedly undermined its own case for race-conscious affirmative action, and the court’s new precedent outlaws racial discrimination in admissions while still preserving the state’s ability to respond to the legacy of past injustice. To understand why Harvard lost — and why race-based affirmative action in public colleges and federally-funded private schools is now unlawful — it’s necessary to understand two key facts about the case.

Persons: John Roberts, Justice Roberts, —, Clarence Thomas Organizations: Harvard University, Harvard, University of North Locations: University of North Carolina

“The Harvard and UNC admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause. We have never permitted admissions programs to work in that way, and we will not do so today,” Roberts wrote. During oral arguments, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar stressed the unique interests of the military and argued that race-based admissions programs further the nation’s compelling interest of diversity. Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law, said the decision will still not end the legal fight over college admissions. The Supreme Court stepped in to consider the case before it was heard by a federal appeals court.

Persons: John Roberts, “, ” Roberts, Clarence Thomas, ”, ” Thomas, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson, ” Sotomayor, Sotomayor, Martin Luther King, Jackson, “ ‘, Roberts, Elizabeth Prelogar, ” Jackson, Kevin McCarthy, Republican Sen, Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, ” Trump, Mike Pence, ” Pence, Chuck Schumer, Laura Coates, Steve Vladeck, ” Vladeck, ” Long, SSFA, Loretta C, Biggs, ” Biggs, SFFA, Cameron T, Norris, Harvard “, Prelogar, Lewis F, Powell Jr Organizations: CNN, Harvard, University of North, UNC, Supreme, GOP, Republican, America, Truth, New York Democrat, University of Texas School of Law, Asian, Fair, Court, Middle, Middle District of, University, US, University of California, Bakke Locations: University of North Carolina, Independence, United States, Lower, Middle District, Middle District of North Carolina

admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the equal protection clause,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the majority. The court had repeatedly upheld similar admissions programs, most recently in 2016, saying that race could be used as one factor among many in evaluating applicants. The university responded that its admissions policies fostered educational diversity and were lawful under longstanding Supreme Court precedents. Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said that courts must give universities substantial but not total leeway in devising their admissions programs. The Texas decision essentially reaffirmed Grutter v. Bollinger, a 2003 decision in which the Supreme Court endorsed holistic admissions programs, saying it was permissible to consider race to achieve educational diversity.

Persons: “, John G, Roberts, ”, Sonia Sotomayor, Edward Blum, Antonin Scalia, Elena Kagan, Justice Anthony M, Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G, Breyer, Justice Sotomayor, Justice Kennedy, Brett M, Kavanaugh, Ginsburg, Amy Coney Barrett, Justice Breyer, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Justice Jackson, Grutter, Bollinger, Sandra Day O’Connor, Clarence Thomas Organizations: Harvard, University of North, Civil, Asian, Fair, University of Texas Locations: University of North Carolina, North Carolina, Austin, Texas

☆ Clarence Thomas isn't happy the Supreme Court went out of its way to shoot down a fringe right-wing elections theory
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Sonam Sheth | John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Supreme Court struck down a fringe right-wing elections theory in a 6-3 ruling. Two lawmakers in the state asked the Supreme Court to take up the case based on the independent state legislature theory. But the balance of power shifted on the North Carolina Supreme Court, which went back and allowed the map. Thomas wrote that with the original case now decided in the lawmakers' favor, the argument before the Supreme Court was "moot." In his dissent, Thomas wrote that the court's purpose is to "resolve not questions and issues but 'Cases' or 'Controversies.'"

Persons: Clarence Thomas, —, Clarence Thomas —, Moore, Harper —, Thomas, Thomas wasn't, Harper Organizations: Service, Republican, Voters, North, North Carolina Supreme Locations: North Carolina

☆ Democratic lawmakers seek Supreme Court investigation into Clarence Thomas
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Jonathan Allen | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, left, talks to Chief Justice John Roberts during the formal group photograph at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. A group of 18 House Democrats wrote a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts Tuesday urging him to establish an independent investigative arm within the Supreme Court — and pressing for that office to probe Justice Clarence Thomas' relationship with a wealthy GOP donor. The Goldman letter recommends the establishment within the court of an "independent investigative body" that can provide transparency and accountability by probing "alleged ethical improprieties." After the Thomas story broke in April, Roberts declined Senate Judiciary Chairman Richard Durbin's request for him to appear before the panel to discuss Supreme Court ethics. Roberts is under no obligation to respond to the Goldman letter, much less create new institutions within the court.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Dan Goldman, Roberts, ProPublica, Thomas, Harlan Crow's, Samuel Alito, Paul Singer, Neil Gorsuch, Greenberg Traurig, Goldman, Alito, Mitch McConnell, Justice Thomas, Richard Durbin's Organizations: Democrats, Rep, NBC, GOP, Politico, Democratic, Republican Locations: Washington , DC, Alaska, Ky

☆ SCOTUS just killed a fringe conservative legal theory that could have upended national elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

State legislatures will continue to be checked by state courts. Then-President Donald Trump and his allies helped elevate the once-fringe election theory in the wake of the 2020 presidential election. In effect, it meant that state legislatures could nullify their own state's presidential election results, disenfranchising potentially millions of Americans in the process. Roberts said that the high court's decision does not mean that state supreme courts have "free rein" in ruling on election laws. "We hold only that state courts may not transgress the ordinary bounds of judicial review such that they arrogate to themselves the power vested in state legislatures to regulate federal elections," he concluded.

Persons: John Roberts, Roberts, —, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Donald Trump, Michael Luttig, Luttig, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Samuel Alito, Thomas, Moore, Harper, Harper I Organizations: Service, Trump, Biden, North Carolina, North, North Carolina Constitution Locations: North Carolina

The North Carolina controversy arose after the state Supreme Court struck down the state’s 2022 congressional map as an illegal partisan gerrymander, replacing it with court drawn maps that favored Democrats. Reggie Weaver, at podium, speaks outside the Legislative Building in Raleigh, North Carolina, Feb. 15, 2022, about a partisan gerrymandering ruling by the North Carolina Supreme Court. Gary D. Robertson/APAfter the state high court ruled, North Carolina Republican lawmakers appealed the decision to the US Supreme Court, arguing that the state Supreme Court had exceeded its authority. After the last election, the North Carolina Supreme Court flipped its majority to Republican. With the US Supreme Court rejecting the lawmakers’ theory that state courts could not police federal election rules, lawyers for the legislature’s opponents celebrated Tuesday’s ruling.

Persons: Donald Trump, John Roberts, ” Roberts, Roberts, ”, “, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Barack Obama, ” Obama, Reggie Weaver, Gary D, Robertson, Tuesday’s, Neal Katyal, Today’s, court’s, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Samuel Alito, ” Thomas, Gorsuch, Thomas, –, Jessica Ring Amunson, Sam Hirsch, Jenner, Hilary Harris Klein – Organizations: CNN, North Carolina, Independent, Chief, Federal, North Carolina Supreme, AP, North, North Carolina Republican, Supreme, North Carolina Supreme Court, Republican, US, Block, Southern Coalition for Social Justice Locations: North Carolina, Federal, Raleigh , North Carolina, “

☆ A federal judge once on the shortlist for the Supreme Court defended Clarence Thomas over the justice's relationship with billionaire Harlan Crow: 'Judges are just like every other human being'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Judge Amul Thapar in his new book defended Clarence Thomas' relationship with megadonor Harlan Crow. Thapar told CNN that judges "have a diverse group of friends, and those friends don't influence the way we do our job." "Judges are just like every other human being," Thapar told the network. And while speaking with CNN, Thapar also suggested that media reports about Thomas didn't always offer a clear picture of the longtime Supreme Court justice. "You can judge their works, and what they do, against what they've done in the past," Thapar told the network.

Persons: Amul Thapar, Clarence Thomas, megadonor Harlan Crow, Thapar, Thomas, —, Harlan Crow, Thomas didn't, Crow, Donald Trump —, ProPublica, Harlan, Kathy Crow Organizations: CNN, Crow, Service, United States, Appeals, Sixth Circuit, Judicial Conference Locations: United States

☆ Clarence Thomas: Appellate judge defends justice in new book, rejects 'pot shots' at Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Ariane De Vogue | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —A federal appeals court judge previously on short lists for the Supreme Court is taking the rare step to broadly and publicly reject allegations that Justice Clarence Thomas has been improperly influenced by lavish gifts provided by a conservative billionaire, dismissing “pot shots” at the Supreme Court in general. Thapar this past week released a new book about Thomas entitled “The People’s Justice,” in which he explores the justice’s favored judicial philosophy of originalism. “You can judge their works, and what they do, against what they’ve done in the past,” Thapar told CNN. Ethics and financial disclosuresThapar rejects suggestions that Thomas should have disclosed the hospitality provided by Crow on annual financial disclosure forms. They have called Justice Thomas ‘the cruelest justice,’ ‘stupid,’ and even an ‘Uncle Tom’ a traitor to his race,” Thapar writes.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Amul Thapar, Thapar, Thomas, originalism, Thomas ’, Thomas ’ originalism, Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Harlan Crow’s, ” Thapar, Ginni, Crow, ” Virginia Canter, ” “, ” Canter, hadn’t, “, –, ”, Thomas’s, Thomas ‘, ’, Tom ’, Elizabeth Wydra, ” Wydra Organizations: CNN, Eastern, Eastern District of, ProPublica, Citizens, Crow, Administrative, Center Locations: Cincinnati, Eastern District, Eastern District of Kentucky, Washington

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