Associate Justice Clarence Thomas

Biden’s Supreme Court Reform Proposal A Great Idea For Long Term!

Joe Biden’s Supreme Court Reform Proposal makes sense for the future.

Eigthteen years should be the term for future members of the Court, with two new appointments for every future President in each four year term.

The idea of Justices staying in office at advanced years is something that should be prevented for the future.

At the same time, it is not possible to limit the number of years of present members of the Court.

But adding more members to the Court is perfectly sensible until and when the present membership of the Court retires.

The idea that one party should constantly control and dominate the Supreme Court is reprehensible, as it should a Court based on the vote of the people as to who they want for the Presidency.

Some sense of political party balance is essential for the Supreme Court to overcome the horrible reputation it has presently, the worst ever in modern history!

And Biden’s proposal for a binding ethics code for the Court and its membership is urgent, after the revelations of the corruption of Clarence Thomas in particular!

Chief Justice John Roberts At A Crossroads

Chief Justice John Roberts is only the 17th person to be Chief Justice.

He has been Chief Justice for 19 years by September, and will be the fourth longest serving Chief Justice at that point, already surpassing the average tenure for a Chief Justice, with the major exceptions of John Marshall (1801-1835) and Roger Taney (1836-1864)), and also Melville Weston Fuller (1888-1910).

Roberts worries, rightfully, about the reputation of the Supreme Court, as it is named after the people who hold the position of Chief Justice.

While a definite conservative, Roberts has tried to promote a rational center on the Court, but that has become much more difficult with the extreme rightward swing of the Court since Donald Trump made three appointments in his one term of office.

The feeling is that Roberts has lost any sense of control or ability to influence his colleagues.

There clearly are major splits on the Court, and Roberts has the difficult job of showing he can lead, or allowing Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito to dominate the Court.

It is hoped that Roberts, quietly, behind the scenes, has convinced the Trump appointees to tame the influence of Thomas and Alito, as otherwise, the reputation of the Court and his own historical reputation will lie in tatters.

This will be demonstrated when the Court finally makes its fateful decision this week on Presidential immunity, and the majority of the Court desperately needs to get this case right, or else, the American experiment in democracy will be in long term crisis!

US Supreme Court Adding To Its Poor Image By Delaying Presidential Immunity Decision To End Of June!

The US Supreme Court, already with a terrible reputation as an extremist right wing Court, is adding to its poor image by delaying its Presidential Immunity decision to the very last week of the present term.

The idea that any President has total immunity on anything he does as President is shocking, but the Court, with its three Donald Trump appointees, plus the horrendous Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, both involved in conflict of interest controversies of their own making, is adding tension to the nation by not having rejected such an idea summarily.

The hope is that the Court will reject such an outrageous abuse of Presidential power, that would allow any action of a President without any controls.

This blogger senses, and hopes that the vote will be as high as 7-2 rejecting total Presidential immunity, with only Thomas and Alito seemingly assured to back such abuse of power.

But this assumes that the Trump appointees, and at the least, Amy Coney Barrett, along with Chief Justice John Roberts, will join Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, to come to that conclusion. The hope is that Brett Kavanaugh will also join such a majority, and possibly Neil Gorsuch.

Supreme Court Future At Stake In Presidential Election Of 2024!

Never has the future of constitutional law ever been more in danger than it is now in 2024, with a right wing extremist Supreme Court majority in process of reversing many of the constitutional advances promoted by the Warren Court and its successors.

President Joe Biden has brought to our attention the reality that it is highly likely that there will be at least TWO Supreme Court appointments in the next Presidential term.

This blogger and author believes, however, that it could, potentially, be up to FOUR appointments, not just two!

Four members of the present Court, based on age and Court longevity, may be leaving the Court by 2028!

Right wing extremists Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are seen as likely to retire after being on the Court for 33 and 18 years and being in their mid 70s.

Sonia Sotomayor has health issues, and is reaching 70, after 15 years on the Court, and may leave.

And Chief Justice John Roberts, on the Court for 19 years, will reach 70 early in 2025.

So the whole future of the Supreme Court is at stake in a massive way!

The Massive Corruption Of Clarence Thomas

It is shocking how corrupt and greedy Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is, and has been in the past third of a century since his hearings for the Supreme Court in 1991 revealed sexual harassment of Anita Hill.

Selected to replace the only earlier African American Justice, Thurgood Marshall, by President George H. W. Bush, his appointment and career stand out as possibly the biggest blunder made by the 41st President.

Thomas has gained at least $4 million in “benefits” from conservative activists, most notably Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo, and has led the attack on the great advancements of the Chief Justice Earl Warren Court (1953-1969).

By all standards of behavior, Thomas should resign from the Court, and should be impeached, but of course, neither will happen, and his horrendous tenure on the Court as it moves far to the Right, undermines all respect for the Court as an institution.

Thomas, sadly, is on the path to the possibility of serving longer on the Court than anyone, if he stays a member for the next three years. If he does, he will surpass the 36 years of Associate Justice William O. Douglas (1939-1975). At this time, already, Thomas is the 10th longest serving member of the Court in its history.

Thomas’s impact on constitutional law is also the fact that many of his law clerks are now federal district court judges, so his right wing views will carry on beyond his own time on the Court.

And sadly, his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, was involved in promotion of the January 6 2021 US Capitol Insurrection, as indicated by research into the behind the scenes events of that tragic day.

Clarence Thomas And Samuel Alito Have Disgraced The Supreme Court!

The US Supreme Court is facing a backlash, due to two of its members, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, being engaged in their actions and statements, and by their wives’ interactions, with promoting the conspiracy theory that the Presidential Election Of 2020 was “stolen” from Donald Trump by Joe Biden.

Ginni Thomas, wife of Clarence Thomas, actively promoted the January 6 2021 US Capitol Insurrection, but Thomas has refused to recuse himself from cases related to Donald Trump and the horrible events of that day.

And the wife of Samuel Alito displayed the American flag upside down in reaction to neighbors who displayed signs against Donald Trump in the days after the US Capitol attack.

Both Justices have made clear they will do what they can to undermine the federal case against Donald Trump, and this presents a danger that Donald Trump will escape prosecution, and might be given immunity from accountability.

This could lead to a Presidential dictatorship and the emergence of Fascism in the federal government, and with the threats of Donald Trump to destroy American democracy and the rule of law.

Public opinion on the image of the Supreme Court has reached an all time low, and Chief Justice John Roberts needs to intervene to insist that these two Justices must not be engaged in decisions involving the controversies of Janury 6!

70th Anniversary Commemoration Of Brown V Board Of Education!

The single most significant Supreme Court decision of the 20th century occurred exactly 70 years ago on May 17, 1954, when the Supreme Court, in an unanimous 9-0 decision, declared segregation in public education was unconstitutional, reversing the segregation decision in Plessy V Ferguson of 1896 after 58 years.

The fact that Chief Justice Earl Warren (1953-1969) was able to gain unanimous support on this case, including Southern members of the Court who were comfortable with segregation, is what made Earl Warren the greatest Chief Justice after John Marshall (1801-1835).

It also makes one very downcast and depressed at what has happened at the Supreme Court in recent decades, particularly since Donald Trump made three right wing appointments to be Supreme Court Justices, adding on to the two Presidents Bush who gave the nation the horrendous Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

Chief Justice John Roberts, also chosen by President George W. Bush, has been a great disappointment, unable to keep the Court balanced, and now containing two Justices totally out of control, arrogant, nasty, abusive, and not concerned about ethics and common decency.

This, along with the attack on DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), and a reversal of Affirmative Action, has been not only promoted by this right wing dominated Supreme Court, but also by actions of Republican Governors Ron DeSantis of Florida, Greg Abbott of Texas, and a whole slew of other Republican governors nationwide.

This includes working to deemphazize African American history in educational curriculums, working to wipe out all of the advancements of the Civil Rights Movement after World War II for the next few decades.

Action must be taken to reverse this bigoted, right wing extremist agenda, and it begins by insuring Joe Biden wins a second term, and that, somehow, Democrats win the House of Representatives, and retain control of the US Senate.

This is a massive challenge that anyone who believes in fairness, and common decency, must engage in for the future of America as a shining beacon of change and tolerance.

Trump V Anderson Supreme Court Case Demonstrates A Bitterly Divided Court!

The right wing Supreme Court has determined that Donald Trump cannot be barred from Presidential primary ballots, despite many conservatives, including former Circuit Court Judge J. Michael Luttig among many others, stating that his inciting of the US Capitol Insurrection of January 6, 2021 violated the 14th Amendment, Section Three.

The decision was that it is up to Congress to bar anyone from running for President, not individual state governments.

In so doing, the decision demonstrated a bitterly divided Court, as the four women on the Court, three Democrats and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, while part of an unanimous vote, made clear their discomfort with the issue of Donald Trump being able to avoid responsibility for his actions on January 6.

If Trump had been removed from the ballot in Colorado, Maine and Illinois, it would have led to further incitement by Trump on the basis that he was being denied the right to be judged by the American people.

So the understanding is that ultimately it is up to the American people and their voting to repudiate this Insurrectionist by reelecting Joe Biden in November!

The Supreme Court has lost all credibility, and its public opinion rating is an all time low, with particularly two of its members—Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito—being seen as corrupt and personally obnoxious—and the Court being the most right wing since the early 1930s.

Former Senator John Danforth’s Bad Judgment: Clarence Thomas And Josh Hawley!

Former Republican Senator John Danforth of Missouri served in the upper body of Congress for three terms from 1976-1995, gaining a reputation as a moderate conservative who was highly respected by his party and by the opposition Democrats.

Danforth came across as a man of dignity and thoughtfulness, and retired with his reputation unchallenged.

But in retrospect, Danforth can now be shown to have had bad judgment on two individuals who have negatively affected American politics.

Danforth is the person who promoted the elevation of Clarence Thomas to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in 1991.

And Danforth also promoted the advancement of Josh Hawley to become a US Senator from Missouri in 2018.

Both Thomas and Hawley have been engaged in promoting a coverup of the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection, with Thomas’s wife encouraging that horrendous event, and Hawley putting up his fist on that day in support of the mob that was descending on the US Capitol, but later fleeing like a coward when the situation got out of hand.

Thomas has been a disgrace on the Court for 33 years now, and Hawley is running for reelection.

Danforth himself has said his backing of Hawley was the worst mistake in his career, but refuses to say the same about the much greater long term damage wrought by Thomas.

So despite his reputable record in the US Senate for 18 years, ending 30 years ago, John Danforth will go down as having, maybe inadvertently, contributed to the Fasist threat of Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans, by having fully backed and promoted both Clarence Thomas and Josh Hawley!

It Looks Like Donald Trump Will Remain On The Ballot: Time For A Vigorous, No Holds Barred Campaign!

After witnessing the oral arguments before the Supreme Court yesterday in the Trump V Anderson Colorado Ballot controversy, it looks like Donald Trump will remain on the ballot for the Presidential Election of 2024 in all of the 50 states.

It was quite surprising even seeing the liberal Democratic appointments on the Supreme Court, and particularly Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, seemingly skeptical on the matter, although Sonia Sotomayor seemed likely to be in dissent.

It was also quite amazing that Clarence Thomas did not recuse himself on the matter, considering that his wife Ginni Thomas was supportive of the US Capitol Insurrection, but then it is well recognized that Thomas has no ethics, morals, or scruples.

Any time that the Supreme Court is involved in oral argument can lead to speculation on the result, so there could be a surprise decision, but it is clear one should not bet on it.

So it is now time for a vigorous, no holds barred campaign for the next nine months, as American democracy and the rule of law is on trial, in what can be considered the most dangerous times since the Civil War 160 years ago!