Changes
/* Personal life */
Justice Thomas is a leader on the Court in urging limits or elimination on incorporating the [[Establishment Clause]] against the States, because that clause was ratified as a federalist provision for protecting States against the new federal government.<ref>''See, e.g.'', ''[[Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow]]'', 542 U.S. 1, 45-46 (2004) (Thomas, J., concurring) (“[T]he Establishment Clause is a federalism provision, which, for this reason, resists incorporation.”); ''Zelman v. Simmons-Harris'', 536 U.S. 639, 677-680, and n. 3 (Thomas, J., concurring).</ref> He is also highly respected by legal scholars for adhering to an interpretation of the [[U.S. Constitution]] based on its original text, meaning and understanding, which has included limiting federal powers. His judicial doctrine finds no basis in the [[U.S. Constitution]] for [[abortion]], [[Roe v. Wade]], [[homosexual]] rights, federal interference with state sovereignty, the [[Dormant Commerce Clause]] and constitutional limits on punitive damages.Compared to the rest of the court, Thomas strongly defends Second Amendment rights and has criticized the court for not doing more to protect it.<ref>Byas, Steve (February 21, 2018). [https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/28347-justice-thomas-supreme-court-does-not-give-second-amendment-due-respect Justice Thomas: Supreme Court Does Not Give Second Amendment Due Respect]. ''The New American''. Retrieved February 21, 2018.</ref>
== Early Life life == Clarence Thomas was born on June 23, 1948. His earliest stages of life were in [[Pinpoint]], [[Georgia]], until his mother took him and his younger brother, Myers Lee Thomas, to live in [[Savannah]]. However, his mother couldn't afford to take care of them, so she gave them to her father, Myers Anderson. Anderson raised them up on his farm, where Thomas and his brother were raised to be very hardworking.<ref>[[My Grandfather's Son]], by Clarence Thomas, 2007, pp. 1 - 13. </ref>
== Comparison with Justice Scalia ==
But these Justices have significant differences. Through the 2006-2007 term, Justice Thomas had written 252 concurrences or dissents, of which Justice Scalia had joined about 2/3rds. Conversely, Justice Scalia had written 480 concurrences or dissents (he has served more years on the Court), of which Justice Thomas had joined about half.
Justices Thomas and Scalia differ on the issue of free speech and pornography. Justice Thomas provided the crucial fifth vote in ''United States v. Playboy Entm't Group'', 529 U.S. 803 (2000), which rejected indecency regulation of cable television in part because "[t]he question is whether an actual problem has been proved in this case. We agree that the Government has failed to establish a pervasive, nationwide problem justifying its nationwide daytime speech ban."<ref>529 U.S. at 822-23.</ref> Justice Scalia dissented, expressly his view that the government has broader powers under the [[First Amendment]] to regulate indecency on cable television.
On the [[Negative Commerce Clause]], Justice Thomas is more reliable than Justice Scalia in defending state laws that discriminate against out-of-state companies. Justice Thomas, for example, wrote the dissent in the 5-4 decision invalidating a Michigan law that limited shipments by out-of-state wineries.<ref>''[[Granholm v. Heald]]''</ref> Justice Scalia split from Justice Thomas and surprisingly joined the more [[liberal]] majority in that case, which was presented using the issue of the [[Negative Commerce Clause]] but then decided based on slightly different grounds.
On the issue of compelled speech, Justice Thomas stronger than Justice Scalia in defending a [[First Amendment]] right not to pay for something with which one disagrees:<ref>[[United States v. United Foods]], 533 U.S. 405, 418-19 (2001) (Thomas, J., concurring)</ref>{{cquote|I write separately, however, to reiterate my views that "paying money for the purposes of advertising involves speech," and that "compelling speech raises a First Amendment issue just as much as restricting speech." Id. at 504 (THOMAS, J., dissenting). Any regulation that compels the funding of advertising must be subjected to the most stringent First Amendment scrutiny.}}
== Former Clerks ==
As a [[U.S. Supreme Court]] Justice, Thomas has mentored over 60 clerks. They include:
*Laura Ingraham, [[conservative]] talk radio host<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lauraingraham.com/pg/jsp/general/aboutlaura.jsp;jsessionid=5436967F38FA6C73A4D5804B1F165ABE|title=About Laura Ingraham |work=[[Laura Ingraham]] }}</ref>*Wendy Long, senior legal advisor and vice chair of [[Mitt Romney]]'s National Faith and Values Steering Committee.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rubin |first1=Jennifer |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505233532/http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=11799|title=Judging Mitt |work=[[American Spectator]] |date=July 30, 2007 }}</ref>
*Professor Steven McAllister, [[University of Kansas]] School of Law
== Appointment to the United States Supreme Court ==
In 1991, upon the retirement of Justice [[Thurgood Marshall]], President [[George H.W. Bush]] nominated Clarence Thomas to fill the newly vacant seat. Supporters of [[abortion]] desperately opposed his nomination.
Radical [[leftist]]s attempted to block Thomas' nomination to the High Court through a persistent series of public [[guilt by association]] smears.<ref>[http://www.theroc.org/roc-mag/textarch/roc-07/roc07-13.htm ''A Few Facts About Clarence Thomas,''] Chip Berlet, Political Research Associates, Cambridge MA, 1997. [[Chip Berlet]] of [[Political Research Associates]] noted that Thomas was on the editorial board of the ''Lincoln Review'', a quarterly black conservative publication of the Lincoln Institute. Berlet issued a rather dubious ''ad hominem'' attack which claimed "it is a far right group that has worked in coalition with… fascist and anti-Semitic groups," and goes on to "link" Lincoln Institute head J. A. Baker with the Indiana Ku Klux Klan by virtue that Baker is on the board of the Council for National Policy and another board member is supposedly a former Klan member. </ref> Sen. [[Joseph Biden]] agreed to hold a series of [[racism|racially motivated]] hearings dubbed "the Anita Hill hearings" which have been described as a "high tech lynching for uppidy blacks."<ref>[http://www.therocyoutube.orgcom/roc-mag/textarch/roc-07/roc07-13.htm ''A Few Facts About watch?v=_2yfARRF9Co Clarence Thomas,''Hearings: Biden Questions Thomas 1] Chip Berlet, Political Research Associates, Cambridge MA, 1997.</ref>
In a flagrant violation of the rules of the [[United States Senate|Senate]],<ref>[http://www.loc.gov/rr/law/nominations/thomas/debates.pdf Congressional Record -Senate, 102nd Congress, October 7, 1991], Vol 137, Part 18, p. 25706.</ref>, staff members<ref>[{{cite web |last1=Brock |first1=David |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212132454/http://www.uiowa.edu/~030116/153/articles/brock01.htm |title=''The Real Anita Hill''|work=[[University of Iowa], David Brock, Harper Collins, 1993.] |date=March 1992 }}</ref> for a sitting [[Democratic]] member of the Judiciary Committee leaked a routine confidential FBI background report to [[Nina Totenberg]] of [[National Public Radio]] (NPR)<ref>[http://backissues.cjrarchives.org/year/92/1/thomas.asp The Clarence Thomas Hearings], by William Boot, ''Columbia Journalism Review'', January/February 1992.</ref> which contained a vicious defamatory smear intended to mar Thomas for life. The accusation was known to be false, and was concocted to publicly intimidate an African-American Republican from accepting an appointment to the nation's High Court, and derail his nomination. None of the allegations could be substantiated. The deliberate falsehoods did however persuade former [[Ku Klux Klan]] [[Democrat]]ic [[Senator]] [[Robert Byrd]] to change his vote from "yes" for confirmation to "no".
Thomas was confirmed by the Senate with a vote of 52-48, which was at the time the narrowest confirmation of a Supreme Court nominee in history.
==Views on racism==
ABC News wrote:
== Personal life ==
Clarence Thomas is married to [[Virginia Lamp Thomas]].He is "decidedly and unapologetically Catholic."<ref>Berry, Susan (May 19, 2018). [http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/05/19/justice-thomas-decidedly-unapologetically-catholic/ Justice Clarence Thomas: ‘I Am Decidedly and Unapologetically Catholic’]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved May 19, 2018.</ref> ==See also==* [[Colion Noir]], [[Alfonzo Rachel]], [[Alex Barron]], [[Sheriff]] [[David Clarke]], Dr. [[Ben Carson]], [[Alan Keyes]], [[Reginald Kaigler]] ([[Demcad]]), [[Thomas Sowell]], Clarence Thomas, Conservative [[African American|black]] pundits (See [[:Category:Black Conservatives|Black conservatives]] and [http://africanamericanconservatives.com/about/ AfricanAmericanConservatives.com])
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
==External Linkslinks==*[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/10/clarence_thomas.html ''Clarence Thomas''], [[Real Clear Politics]], October 9, 2007 <br>
*[http://www.hillsdale.edu/hctools/imprimis_archive/2007/10/2007_10_Imprimis.pdf ''A Conversation with Justice Clarence Thomas''] - [[Hillsdale College]] interview with Justice Thomas conducted in his [[chambers]] at the [[U.S. Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], on September 19, 2007.
{{Supreme Court|rehnquist=y|roberts=y}} {{DEFAULTSORT: Thomas, Clarence}}
[[categoryCategory:United States Supreme Court Justices]][[Category:Conservatives]][[Category:Reagan Era]][[Category:Black Conservatives]][[Category:Black History]][[Category:Best Selling Authors]][[Category:The 100 Americans The Left Hates Most]]{{Conservatism}}[[Category:Pro Second Amendment]]