Clarence Thomas is an American attorney serving as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Thurgood Marshall was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to succeed him and served since 1999.
Clarence Thomas Personal Life
Clarence Thomas was born on 23 June 1948 in Pin Point, Georgia to M.C. Thomas, a farmworker, and Leola. He has two siblings. He used to live with his family in a small shack without running water or electricity.
He was raised by his grandfather in a poor Gullah community near Savannah after his father abandoned the family when Thomas was 2 years old. Initially, Thomas wanted to become a priest in the Roman Catholic Church, but he was irritated by the church’s inadequate efforts to combat racism.
After completing his graduation, he was appointed associate judge in Missouri and later opened a private practice there. In 1979, he became a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator John Danforth, and in 1981 he became an assistant for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education. In the next year, President Ronald Reagan appointed Thomas as chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Clarence Thomas Career
Thomas with President Ronald Reagan in 1986 while serving as chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission After graduation, Thomas studied at the Missouri Bar Association at Saint Louis University School of Law. He was admitted to the Missouri Bar on September 13, 1974. From 1974 to 1977, he served as Missouri Attorney General under Yale alumnus Attorney General John Danforth. Thomas was the only African-American member of Danforth’s staff. He first worked in the Danforth Office in the Criminal Appeals Division and later in the Revenue and Taxation Division. He said he considers assistant district attorney the best job he’s ever had. When Danforth was elected to the United States Senate in 1976, Thomas St. Louis worked as a lawyer for the chemical company Monsanto. Thomas moved to Washington and again worked on the Danforth from 1979 to 1981 as an energy assistant to the Senate Commerce Committee. Thomas and Danforth both studied for ordination, although in different denominations. Danforth beat Thomas to the Supreme Court. From 1974 to 1977, Thomas served as an Assistant Attorney General of Missouri. He then worked for Monsanto from 1977 to 1979 before becoming a legislative assistant to Senator John Danforth from 1979 to 1981. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed Thomas as Assistant Attorney General of the United States Department of Education. He worked until 1982. After his tenure at the Department of Education, President Reagan appointed Thomas to head the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). He served in that position from 1982 to 1990 and was noted for his efforts to streamline the operations of the EEOC and improve the enforcement of anti-discrimination laws. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush Thomas to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Confirmed by the Senate, he served on the court until 1991, when Bush appointed him to succeed Thurgood Marshall as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. Despite the controversy surrounding allegations of sexual harassment by Anita Hill during Thomas’ confirmation hearing, he was confirmed by the Senate and began serving on the court in October 1991. Since joining the Supreme Court, Thomas has been known for his conservative views and strict principles. . interpretation of the Constitution. He was a strong proponent of originalism and textualism and often disagreed with the majority of the court on issues such as abortion, affirmative action, and same-sex marriage. Thomas wrote several books during his career, including “My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir” and “The Constitution of the United States: A Handbook.” He has also received several awards and honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019.
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
On October 30, 1989, President George H. W. Bush appointed Thomas to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit following the departure of Robert Bork. This followed Thomas’ initial protests against becoming a judge. Thomas received support from other African-Americans, including former Transportation Secretary William Coleman, but said that when he met with white Democratic staffers in the United States Senate, he was “shocked at how easy it was for white people to accuse a black person of indifference to civil rights. ”
Clarence Thomas Relationship
In 1971, he got married to Kathy Ambush, whom he met while they were both working at the EEOC but the thing did not go well between them so they decided to part ways. In 1984, the couple got divorced.
In 1987, Thomas got married to Virginia Lamp, a lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The couple has one son, Jamal.
Clarence Thomas Education
Clarence Thomas attended the predominantly black St. Pius X High School for two years followed by a transfer transferring to St. John Vianney Minor Seminary, where he studied among its few black students. Later, he joined Conception Seminary College, a Catholic seminary in Missouri. Thomas was the first person in his family to attend a university.
Thomas said he left the seminary after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. He heard another student say after the shooting, “Great. I hope the bastard’s dead,” and didn’t think the church was doing enough to fight racism.
After graduating from Holy Cross, he joined Yale Law School. In 1947, he graduates with a Juris Doctor degree, in the middle of his class. Thomas said the law firms he applied to after graduating from Yale did not take his J.D. seriously, assuming he got it for affirmative action. According to Thomas, the law firms “also asked pointed questions that indicated they doubted whether I was as intelligent as my grades indicated.”
Clarence Thomas Net Worth
Clarence’s actual figure of net worth is not available publicly but as a Supreme Court justice, Thomas must file annual financial statements detailing his assets, liabilities, and sources of income. Supreme Court justices will reportedly be paid $255,300 a year starting in 2021.
In addition, they are eligible for pension benefits and may receive income from investments, book royalties, and speaking engagements.
Clarence Thomas Controversy
Thomas’ former colleague Anita Hill accused him of sexual harassment during the Supreme Court confirmation hearing. Thomas vehemently denied the allegations, and the controversy surrounding them remains a controversial topic to this day.
Clarence Thomas Religion
Clarence Thomas reconciled with the Roman Catholic Church in the mid-1990s. In his autobiography, he criticized the church for not grappling with racism during the civil rights movement in the 1960s, saying it was not as strict about ending racism as it is now about ending abortion. As of 2021, Thomas is one of 14 Catholic justices in the court’s history and one of six currently serving, along with Alito, Kavanaugh, Roberts, Sotomayor, and Barrett.
Clarence Thomas Recognition
In 2012, Thomas received an honorary degree from the College of the Holy Cross and became an alma mater.
Latest News About Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas says trips paid for by billionaires were ‘personal hospitality,’ not business Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas clarified that he did not disclose trips paid for by his friend, conservative billionaire Harlan Crow.
Thomas said in a statement that Crow and his wife, Kathy, are “dear friends” and that he and his wife have gone on family trips with them for years. “Early in my tenure at the court, I asked my colleagues and other judges for advice, and I was told that that kind of personal hospitality from close personal friends who had nothing to do with the court was not reportable,” Thomas said. said “I have tried to follow this advice throughout my tenure and I have always tried to follow the disclosure guidelines,” he added. Thomas, one of six conservative justices on the court, said he would follow changes made to disclosure rules last month. The changes made it clear that private jets and overnight stays at privately owned resorts, such as Crow’s in New York state, must be disclosed. A change in the disclosure rules tightened the “personal hospitality” exception, which was not well defined. That adjustment came just weeks before a ProPublica article published Thursday detailing Thomas’ lavish travels, which were financed by Crow. Thomas did not disclose those trips, including travel on Crow’s private jet and resort visits, in his annual financial filings. According to the rules in force until recently, he may not have been required. The “personal hospitality” exception means that judges and magistrates do not have to disclose certain gifts, including accommodation and food, when the person involved is a friend. The new interpretation clarified that private jet travel and overnight stays at resort-type facilities owned by private operators must be disclosed. Thomas has been in the spotlight in recent months, largely due to the actions of his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, including her support of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Thomas himself has been criticized for refusing to cases related to Trump and the election. The Supreme Court’s conservative 6-3 majority has angered liberals by shifting American law dramatically to the right, most notably with its ruling last year that overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that women have a constitutional right to an abortion.
Harlan Crow declines to provide information to Senate Democrats on Clarence Thomas gifts
Senators are seeking to investigate the exchanges between Harlan Crow and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the Republican donor who feted the justice with luxury travel and other gifts.
“We have serious concerns about the scope of and authority for this inquiry,” Crow’s lawyer, Michael Bopp, wrote in a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore. “As you are aware, the committee’s powers to investigate are not unlimited.”
The letter was a response to a request last month by Wyden for more information about the gifts and whether they implicate the federal gift tax. The response suggested Crow would also fight a congressional subpoena, if one was issued, noting that Congress can only make such demands for a “legitimate legislative purpose.”
| Full Name | Clarence Thomas |
| Birthdate | June 23, 1948 |
| Birthplace | Pin Point, Georgia |
| Education | College of the Holy Cross (B.A. in English) |
| Yale Law School (J.D.) | |
| Career | – Attorney in Missouri and Washington, D.C. |
| – Assistant Attorney General of Missouri | |
| – Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission | |
| – Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit | |
| – Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| Notable Achievements | – Second African American to serve on the Supreme Court |
| – Longest-serving member of the Court since Anthony Kennedy’s retirement in 2018 | |
| – The oldest member of the Court since Stephen Breyer’s retirement in 2022 | |
| Family | – Father: M.C. Thomas, a farm worker |
| – Mother: Leola | |
| – Spouse: Virginia Lamp (married in 1987) | |
| – Children: One son, Jamal |
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