How Clarence Thomas went from a left-wing Black radical to one of the Supreme Court's most conservative judges

James PasleyFeb 20, 2023, 23:51 IST

Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

Clarence Thomas is the longest-serving and oldest justice on the Supreme Court.
He was part of the conservative minority on the court before more conservative justices joined in recent years.

Clarence Thomas was born on June 23, 1948, in a small town called Pin Point in Georgia.

Clarence Thomas is seen in a high school yearbook photo, circa 1959.AP

He was born into a family without much money — they used torn sheets for diapers and Spanish moss for toilet paper.

A view of abandoned buildings of factory where the mother of Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas picked crab meat at 5 cents a pound to support herself & family while he was growing up.Thomas S. England/Getty Images

When he was 7, his father abandoned their family. In response, his mother sent him to live in Savannah with his grandparents.

The house where Clarence Thomas was raised.Thomas S. England/Getty Images

As well as English, Thomas spoke Geechee, a Creole language. At St. Pius X High School, a priest told him he didn't speak proper English, and if he didn't want to be considered inferior, he needed to learn to speak properly.

Clarence Thomas is seen sitting at a desk writing in a high school year book photo, circa 1959.AP

As well as English, Thomas spoke Geechee, a Creole language. At St. Pius X High School, a priest told him he didn't speak proper English, and if he didn't want to be considered inferior, he needed to learn to speak properly.

Thomas spent a year training to become a priest, but after the prejudice he encountered, he changed his mind. In 1968, he enrolled at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts to study English literature.

Clarence Thomas is seen looking at a textbook with another student in a high school yearbook photo, circa 1959.AP

Thomas spent a year training to become a priest, but after the prejudice he encountered, he changed his mind. In 1968, he enrolled at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts to study English literature.

While he was at university, he met his future wife Kathy Ambush. They got married after he graduated. They had their only child, Jamal Thomas, in 1973.

Kathy Ambush and Clarence Thomas attend an event at the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 19, 1985.Guy DeLort/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images

Thomas went to Yale to study law. He was accepted via an affirmative action program.

On Oct. 11, 1991, U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Clarence Thomas denounces and denies sexual harassment allegations made by Anita Hill against him before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington.AP Photo/John Duricka

In 1974, after graduating from Yale, he got a job working for then-Missouri Attorney General John Danforth. He worked on tax and environment issues and refused to have anything to do with race.

Clarence Thomas reviewing a large stack of mail related to a new employment law poster during his time with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission in 1982.Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images

In 1974, after graduating from Yale, he got a job working for then-Missouri Attorney General John Danforth. He worked on tax and environment issues and refused to have anything to do with race.

Thomas left the government and worked for a brief period for Monsanto Chemical Corporation so he could experience private practice. But in 1979, when Danforth was elected to the Senate, Thomas was rehired.

Clarence Thomas alongside then-Senator of Delaware Joe Biden and then-Senator of Missouri John Danforth in 1993.CQ Roll Call via Getty Images

Thomas left the government and worked for a brief period for Monsanto Chemical Corporation so he could experience private practice. But in 1979, when Danforth was elected to the Senate, Thomas was rehired.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan's administration read a profile in The Washington Post about Thomas and offered him a job. He started in the Department of Education before becoming chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1982.

Clarence Thomas stands behind former President Ronald Reagan in 1984.Bettmann/Getty Images

In 1980, Ronald Reagan's administration read a profile in The Washington Post about Thomas and offered him a job. He started in the Department of Education before becoming chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1982.

During his tenure at the EEOC, he said that instead of working together, Black civil rights leaders, "bitch, bitch, bitch, moan and moan, whine and whine."

Clarence Thomas speaks at a press conference in Washington DC in 1983.Diana Walker/Getty Images

Even as he began to ascend, Thomas was a loner. In a magazine profile published in 1987, he was described as "sad, lonely, troubled."

Clarence Thomas in 1991.Barry Thumma/AP

In the 1980s, he became more vocal in expressing his legal views. For instance, he regularly criticized the court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, saying it was a sentimental ruling that indicated Black schools were inferior to white schools.

Clarence Thomas in 1995.Wilfredo Lee/AP

In the 1980s, he became more vocal in expressing his legal views. For instance, he regularly criticized the court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, saying it was a sentimental ruling that indicated Black schools were inferior to white schools.

In 1984, Thomas divorced his wife, and three years later, he remarried a woman named Virginia "Ginni" Lamp in 1987.

Clarence Thomas kissing Virginia Lamp in 1991.Doug Mills/AP

In 1990, he was appointed as a federal judge on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. This is one of the most important courts in America. It was around then he began to be seen as a future Supreme Court candidate.

Clarence Thomas speaking with then-Senate Judiciary Chairman Joe Biden in September 1991.John Duricka/AP

In 1990, he was appointed as a federal judge on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. This is one of the most important courts in America. It was around then he began to be seen as a future Supreme Court candidate.

He only spent 15 months on the court and did not get to rule on charged issues like abortion, religion, or affirmative action.

Clarence Thomas and Anthony Kennedy in 2008.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

In 1991, he was nominated for the Supreme Court. It was one of the most heated confirmation processes in recent history. Media followed him everywhere. Court marshals were appointed to escort him and his wife to and from hearings. He was advised to wear a bulletproof vest.

Clarence Thomas in 1992.Larry Downing/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images

In 1991, he was nominated for the Supreme Court. It was one of the most heated confirmation processes in recent history. Media followed him everywhere. Court marshals were appointed to escort him and his wife to and from hearings. He was advised to wear a bulletproof vest.

During the confirmation he told senators — unlike the speeches he'd made in the 1980s — he would "strip down, like a runner, to eliminate agendas, to eliminate ideologies."

Clarence Thomas, then a nominee for Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, responds to questions from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing, Washington, D.C., October 11, 1991.Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images

During the confirmation he told senators — unlike the speeches he'd made in the 1980s — he would "strip down, like a runner, to eliminate agendas, to eliminate ideologies."

Thomas' nomination was met with support by some in the African American community.

Women holding T-shirts that show their support for Clarence Thomas' nomination in 1991.Charles Tasnadi/AP

But not by all. Famous Black rights activist Rosa Parks wrote to the Supreme Court stating she applauded Thomas' career, but that "his confirmation to the highest court in the land would not represent a step forward in the road to racial progress but a U-turn on that road."

But not by all. Famous Black rights activist Rosa Parks wrote to the Supreme Court stating she applauded Thomas' career, but that "his confirmation to the highest court in the land would not represent a step forward in the road to racial progress but a U-turn on that road."

It wasn't just his legal reasoning that came under fire. During the confirmation, legal professor Anita Hill, who was one of his former employees, accused Thomas of sexual assault.

Rick Wilking/Reuters

It wasn't just his legal reasoning that came under fire. During the confirmation, legal professor Anita Hill, who was one of his former employees, accused Thomas of sexual assault.

Hill testified that Thomas had asked her, "Who has put pubic hair in my Coke?"

Clarence Thomas closes his eyes and puts his hand to his head during his hearing regarding the alleged sexual harassment of Anita Hill.Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis/Getty

"He talked about pornographic materials depicting individuals with large penises or large breasts, involved in various sex acts," she said in public testimony. "On several occasions, Thomas told me graphically of his own sexual prowess."

Anita Hill testifying in 1991.AP

"He talked about pornographic materials depicting individuals with large penises or large breasts, involved in various sex acts," she said in public testimony. "On several occasions, Thomas told me graphically of his own sexual prowess."

Thomas denied the accusations. According to his memoir, he had an epiphany before he went to testify in his defense and made it about race. He described the accusations as "high-tech lynching for uppity Blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves."

Then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas testifies during his hearing before Senate Judiciary Committee.Michael Jenkins/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images

Thomas denied the accusations. According to his memoir, he had an epiphany before he went to testify in his defense and made it about race. He described the accusations as "high-tech lynching for uppity Blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves."

And it worked. By a vote of 52-48, the narrowest margin in more than 100 years, he was appointed to the Supreme Court. He was the second African American to join the court after Thurgood Marshall.

Clarence Thomas, US Supreme Court Associate Justice, in December 1993.Marcy Nighswander/AP

And it worked. By a vote of 52-48, the narrowest margin in more than 100 years, he was appointed to the Supreme Court. He was the second African American to join the court after Thurgood Marshall.

After all of the unwanted media attention, Thomas and his wife moved to a private house on a five-acre section of woods.

Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas looks out the window of a car as he leaves his Alexandria, Virginia home, Oct. 9, 1991.Barry Thumma/AP

His relationship with the media had undeniably soured. According to a 1995 profile in the Washington Post, Thomas would rise at 4 a.m., walk on the Stairmaster for an hour, but would read no newspaper and watched no televised news — though he listened to Rush Limbaugh on the radio.

US radio talk show host and conservative political commentator Rush Limbaugh looks on before introducing US President Donald Trump to deliver remarks at a Make America Great Again rally in Cape Girardeau, MO, on November 5, 2018.JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

His relationship with the media had undeniably soured. According to a 1995 profile in the Washington Post, Thomas would rise at 4 a.m., walk on the Stairmaster for an hour, but would read no newspaper and watched no televised news — though he listened to Rush Limbaugh on the radio.

After the confirmation, his life changed. He told a court newsletter called "The Docket Sheet" he could no longer walk down the street with his law clerks to have a barbeque after what had happened.

US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas sits in his chambers with three of his clerks at the Supreme Court June 18, 2002, in Washington, D.C.David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images

After the confirmation, his life changed. He told a court newsletter called "The Docket Sheet" he could no longer walk down the street with his law clerks to have a barbeque after what had happened.

In 1999, he purchased a 40-foot custom bus with tinted windows and paneling painted red and orange fire. The Tampa Bay Times called it his "mobile fortress, a suit of armor that allows him the freedom and anonymity he has long craved."

Clarence Thomas, fresh from his confirmation as associate justice to the Supreme Court, leaves his Alexandria home in Virginia, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 1991.Charles Tasnadi/AP

In 1999, he purchased a 40-foot custom bus with tinted windows and paneling painted red and orange fire. The Tampa Bay Times called it his "mobile fortress, a suit of armor that allows him the freedom and anonymity he has long craved."

After the death of his brother in 2000, he told a group in Florida that being on the Supreme Court was meaningless. What mattered, he said, were faith, family, and friends.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas sits with his wife Virginia Thomas in Washington.Charles Dharapak, File/AP

After the death of his brother in 2000, he told a group in Florida that being on the Supreme Court was meaningless. What mattered, he said, were faith, family, and friends.

But that didn't mean he wasn't working. As the most conservative Supreme Court Justice since the 1930s, Thomas' opinions were often dissenting in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Clarence Thomas in 1991.Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis/Getty Images

But that didn't mean he wasn't working. As the most conservative Supreme Court Justice since the 1930s, Thomas' opinions were often dissenting in the 1990s and early 2000s.

For the first decade of his Supreme Court career, Thomas had to deal with the perception that his opinions were guided by fellow Justice Antonin Scalia, who, until Thomas, had been the most conservative Justice on the Supreme Court.

Associate Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas in 1995.Chris Maddaloni/Roll Call/Getty Images

For the first decade of his Supreme Court career, Thomas had to deal with the perception that his opinions were guided by fellow Justice Antonin Scalia, who, until Thomas, had been the most conservative Justice on the Supreme Court.

Thomas did not write many important opinions. Because of his radical views on the law, he was rarely asked by either of the chief justices to write an opinion in a major case.

The Supreme Court justices in 1993.Diana Walker/Getty Images

Thomas did not write many important opinions. Because of his radical views on the law, he was rarely asked by either of the chief justices to write an opinion in a major case.

In 2002, Thomas made some of his most well-known comments during a case about cross-burning in Virginia. In this case, the Supreme Court ended up ruling states could make it a crime to burn a cross if the point was to intimidate.

Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas speaks at the Heritage Foundation on October 21, 2021 in Washington, D.C.Drew Angerer/Getty Images

In 2002, Thomas made some of his most well-known comments during a case about cross-burning in Virginia. In this case, the Supreme Court ended up ruling states could make it a crime to burn a cross if the point was to intimidate.

In 2006, Thomas asked a question from the bench. He would not ask another question until 2016. This was somewhat at odds with his personal life since he is known to be a big talker.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas poses for a portrait in his chambers at the Supreme Court, Washington DC, June 18, 2002.David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images

In 2006, Thomas asked a question from the bench. He would not ask another question until 2016. This was somewhat at odds with his personal life since he is known to be a big talker.

Thomas is known for his décor with staff at the court. He knows the names of every employee and invites people to have long conversations with him in his office.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas laughs in his chambers at the Supreme Court on June 18, 2002 in Washington, D.C.David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images

While Thomas was rarely inclined to speak publicly, his wife Virginia started to speak out politically. She began to have an impact on his career due to her conservative advocacy.

Virginia “Ginni” Thomas at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on February 23, 2017.Susan Walsh/AP

While Thomas was rarely inclined to speak publicly, his wife Virginia started to speak out politically. She began to have an impact on his career due to her conservative advocacy.

On January 6, 2020, Ginni Thomas attended the "Stop the Steal" rally that preceded the mob of Trump supporters that stormed the Capitol.

Then-US President Donald Trump greets the crowd at the "Stop The Steal" Rally on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC.Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Instead of resigning, Thomas became more powerful. After 30 years of being an outlier on the Supreme Court, he was now part of the majority thanks to former President Donald Trump's judicial appointments.

Then-President Donald Trump speaks before Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas administers the Constitutional Oath to Amy Coney Barrett on the South Lawn of the White House White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, after Barrett was confirmed to be a Supreme Court justice by the Senate earlier in the evening.Alex Brandon/AP

Instead of resigning, Thomas became more powerful. After 30 years of being an outlier on the Supreme Court, he was now part of the majority thanks to former President Donald Trump's judicial appointments.

In June of 2022, Thomas helped overturn Roe v. Wade, which protected abortion as a fundamental right, a case he had been openly against for more than 30 years.

Protestors filled the streets after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

In that opinion, he wrote that the court should overturn cases that established rights for same-sex marriage, same-sex relations and contraception based on the same rationale.

Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File

In that opinion, he wrote that the court should overturn cases that established rights for same-sex marriage, same-sex relations and contraception based on the same rationale.

Now, Thomas is arguably one of the most powerful justices on the Supreme Court and his goal to push back 1960s social and political reforms is underway.

Clarence Thomas in 2008.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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How Clarence Thomas went from a left-wing Black radical to one of the Supreme Court's most conservative judges

Clarence Thomas was born on June 23, 1948, in a small town called Pin Point in Georgia.

He was born into a family without much money — they used torn sheets for diapers and Spanish moss for toilet paper.

When he was 7, his father abandoned their family. In response, his mother sent him to live in Savannah with his grandparents.

As well as English, Thomas spoke Geechee, a Creole language. At St. Pius X High School, a priest told him he didn't speak proper English, and if he didn't want to be considered inferior, he needed to learn to speak properly.

Thomas spent a year training to become a priest, but after the prejudice he encountered, he changed his mind. In 1968, he enrolled at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts to study English literature.

While he was at university, he met his future wife Kathy Ambush. They got married after he graduated. They had their only child, Jamal Thomas, in 1973.

Thomas went to Yale to study law. He was accepted via an affirmative action program.

In 1974, after graduating from Yale, he got a job working for then-Missouri Attorney General John Danforth. He worked on tax and environment issues and refused to have anything to do with race.

Thomas left the government and worked for a brief period for Monsanto Chemical Corporation so he could experience private practice. But in 1979, when Danforth was elected to the Senate, Thomas was rehired.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan's administration read a profile in The Washington Post about Thomas and offered him a job. He started in the Department of Education before becoming chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1982.

During his tenure at the EEOC, he said that instead of working together, Black civil rights leaders, "bitch, bitch, bitch, moan and moan, whine and whine."

Even as he began to ascend, Thomas was a loner. In a magazine profile published in 1987, he was described as "sad, lonely, troubled."

In the 1980s, he became more vocal in expressing his legal views. For instance, he regularly criticized the court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, saying it was a sentimental ruling that indicated Black schools were inferior to white schools.

In 1984, Thomas divorced his wife, and three years later, he remarried a woman named Virginia "Ginni" Lamp in 1987.

In 1990, he was appointed as a federal judge on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. This is one of the most important courts in America. It was around then he began to be seen as a future Supreme Court candidate.

He only spent 15 months on the court and did not get to rule on charged issues like abortion, religion, or affirmative action.

In 1991, he was nominated for the Supreme Court. It was one of the most heated confirmation processes in recent history. Media followed him everywhere. Court marshals were appointed to escort him and his wife to and from hearings. He was advised to wear a bulletproof vest.

During the confirmation he told senators — unlike the speeches he'd made in the 1980s — he would "strip down, like a runner, to eliminate agendas, to eliminate ideologies."

Thomas' nomination was met with support by some in the African American community.

But not by all. Famous Black rights activist Rosa Parks wrote to the Supreme Court stating she applauded Thomas' career, but that "his confirmation to the highest court in the land would not represent a step forward in the road to racial progress but a U-turn on that road."

It wasn't just his legal reasoning that came under fire. During the confirmation, legal professor Anita Hill, who was one of his former employees, accused Thomas of sexual assault.

Hill testified that Thomas had asked her, "Who has put pubic hair in my Coke?"

"He talked about pornographic materials depicting individuals with large penises or large breasts, involved in various sex acts," she said in public testimony. "On several occasions, Thomas told me graphically of his own sexual prowess."

Thomas denied the accusations. According to his memoir, he had an epiphany before he went to testify in his defense and made it about race. He described the accusations as "high-tech lynching for uppity Blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves."

And it worked. By a vote of 52-48, the narrowest margin in more than 100 years, he was appointed to the Supreme Court. He was the second African American to join the court after Thurgood Marshall.

After all of the unwanted media attention, Thomas and his wife moved to a private house on a five-acre section of woods.

His relationship with the media had undeniably soured. According to a 1995 profile in the Washington Post, Thomas would rise at 4 a.m., walk on the Stairmaster for an hour, but would read no newspaper and watched no televised news — though he listened to Rush Limbaugh on the radio.

After the confirmation, his life changed. He told a court newsletter called "The Docket Sheet" he could no longer walk down the street with his law clerks to have a barbeque after what had happened.

In 1999, he purchased a 40-foot custom bus with tinted windows and paneling painted red and orange fire. The Tampa Bay Times called it his "mobile fortress, a suit of armor that allows him the freedom and anonymity he has long craved."

After the death of his brother in 2000, he told a group in Florida that being on the Supreme Court was meaningless. What mattered, he said, were faith, family, and friends.

But that didn't mean he wasn't working. As the most conservative Supreme Court Justice since the 1930s, Thomas' opinions were often dissenting in the 1990s and early 2000s.

For the first decade of his Supreme Court career, Thomas had to deal with the perception that his opinions were guided by fellow Justice Antonin Scalia, who, until Thomas, had been the most conservative Justice on the Supreme Court.

Thomas did not write many important opinions. Because of his radical views on the law, he was rarely asked by either of the chief justices to write an opinion in a major case.

In 2002, Thomas made some of his most well-known comments during a case about cross-burning in Virginia. In this case, the Supreme Court ended up ruling states could make it a crime to burn a cross if the point was to intimidate.

In 2006, Thomas asked a question from the bench. He would not ask another question until 2016. This was somewhat at odds with his personal life since he is known to be a big talker.

Thomas is known for his décor with staff at the court. He knows the names of every employee and invites people to have long conversations with him in his office.

While Thomas was rarely inclined to speak publicly, his wife Virginia started to speak out politically. She began to have an impact on his career due to her conservative advocacy.

On January 6, 2020, Ginni Thomas attended the "Stop the Steal" rally that preceded the mob of Trump supporters that stormed the Capitol.

Instead of resigning, Thomas became more powerful. After 30 years of being an outlier on the Supreme Court, he was now part of the majority thanks to former President Donald Trump's judicial appointments.

In June of 2022, Thomas helped overturn Roe v. Wade, which protected abortion as a fundamental right, a case he had been openly against for more than 30 years.

In that opinion, he wrote that the court should overturn cases that established rights for same-sex marriage, same-sex relations and contraception based on the same rationale.

Now, Thomas is arguably one of the most powerful justices on the Supreme Court and his goal to push back 1960s social and political reforms is underway.