Clarence Thomas and the price of feigned originalism

[signalmankenneth]

Gaps in ethics on the High Court lead to extreme rulings. No justice is more tainted than Clarence Thomas

The Associated Press just released an in-depth study on how access to the Supreme Court has been bought over the years. On one end, deep-pocket donors are invited to public speaking engagements with ideologically aligned justices, but the collection plate is tastefully hidden until after the fact.

On the other end, public events morph into exclusive junkets with prolonged, personal access extended over days. No justice has benefitted from the symbiosis — or the luxury — more than Clarence Thomas.

Gifts lavished on Thomas and his crusading wife Ginni taste, feel, and smell uber lux: island hopping on staffed superyachts; pampered vacations worth millions over two decades; bougie boarding school tuition; a free refurbished home for mom; disguised provocateur 'fees' for Ginni; and exclusive travel on private aircraft meant for heads of state.

The Thomases have luxuriated in conservative donor Harlan Crow's extreme wealth for decades, while most federal judges won't even accept a free lunch. Clarence and Ginni show us how it's done: not just the lunch, but also the chef, the estate he toils in, and a private jet and yacht to get to the secluded island it sits on.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/clarence-thomas-price-feigned-originalism-100002348.html

 

[martin]

This buddyism between rich conservatives and Right wing justices isn't wearing well, nor is the publicity going away. Sooner or later it will taint conservatism itself more than Trumpism has tainted it already.

 

[Lionfish]

Gaps in ethics on the High Court lead to extreme rulings. No justice is more tainted than Clarence Thomas

[FONT=&]The Associated Press just released an in-depth study on how access to the Supreme Court has been bought over the years. On one end, deep-pocket donors are invited to public speaking engagements with ideologically aligned justices, but the collection plate is tastefully hidden until after the fact.

On the other end, public events morph into exclusive junkets with prolonged, personal access extended over days. No justice has benefitted from the symbiosis — or the luxury — more than Clarence Thomas.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Gifts lavished on Thomas and his crusading wife Ginni taste, feel, and smell uber lux: island hopping on staffed superyachts; pampered vacations worth millions over two decades; bougie boarding school tuition; a free refurbished home for mom; disguised provocateur 'fees' for Ginni; and exclusive travel on private aircraft meant for heads of state.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]The Thomases have luxuriated in conservative donor Harlan Crow's extreme wealth for decades, while most federal judges won't even accept a free lunch. Clarence and Ginni show us how it's done: not just the lunch, but also the chef, the estate he toils in, and a private jet and yacht to get to the secluded island it sits on.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/clarence-thomas-price-feigned-originalism-100002348.html

Put away your tom hartman bullshit and read,

Sotomayor praises Thomas as 'a man who cares deeply about the court as an institution'

"According to Reuters, Sotomayor described Thomas as “a man who cares deeply about the court as an institution” and the people who work there. He is the one justice in the building, she said, who “literally knows every employee’s name.”

Sotomayor said she suspects that she has disagreed with Thomas more than any other justice, but they share a common understanding about kindness toward people.

“That’s why I can be friends with him and still continue our daily battle over our difference of opinions in cases,” she said.

Sotomayor acknowledged that there are days when she gets discouraged.

“Every time I do that, I lick my wounds for a while, sometimes I cry, and then I say: ‘Let’s fight,’” she said."