Tag Archives: Clarence Thomas

The Associated Press reports: The Supreme Court acted “literally in the middle of the night” and without sufficient explanation in blocking the Trump administration from deporting any Venezuelans held in northern Texas under an 18th-century wartime law, Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a sharp dissent that castigated the seven-member majority. Joined by fellow conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, Alito said there …

NBC News reports: A judicial organization that sets national policy for federal courts has rejected a request from two Democratic lawmakers to refer Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to the Justice Department over free travel and gifts from wealthy benefactors that were largely omitted from his financial disclosure forms. The group, the Judicial Conference, sent identical letters Thursday to Sen. …

NBC News reports: Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday blasted what he called “illegitimate activity” aimed at undermining the independence of the judiciary. While facing criticism of contentious court rulings is part of the job for judges, some recent actions have crossed the line, Roberts said in his annual end-of-year report. He outlined four areas of concern: violence, intimidation, disinformation …

Politico reports: Senate Democrats wrapped up their extensive investigation of Supreme Court justices’ ethics practices Saturday, issuing a report blasting two conservative justices for accepting expensive gifts from wealthy benefactors and slamming Chief Justice John Roberts for a lackadaisical response to ethical lapses by his colleagues. “Now more than ever before, as a result of information gathered by subpoenas, we …

USA Today reports: Christopher Wilson had a loaded pistol in his waistband when the Maui Police Department in 2017 responded to a complaint that he was trespassing on private property. Wilson did not, though, have a permit to carry that gun. And in a case that put a spotlight on Hawaii’s strict gun regulations, as well as on its low …

The New York Times reports: Justice Clarence Thomas failed to publicly disclose additional private travel provided by the wealthy conservative donor Harlan Crow, a top Democratic senator said in a letter on Monday. Customs and Border Protection records revealed that the justice and his wife, Virginia Thomas, took a round trip between Hawaii and New Zealand in November 2010 on …

The Washington Post reports: A business executive and philanthropist has pledged $30 million to launch a first-of-its-kind center pushing to overhaul the Supreme Court, after a series of ethics controversies and conservative rulings prompted rising scrutiny of the justices. The major gift from Jim Kohlberg, chairman and co-founder of the private equity firm Kohlberg & Co., will fund research, public …

The Washington Post reports: President Biden is finalizing plans to endorse major changes to the Supreme Court in the coming weeks, including proposals for legislation to establish term limits for the justices and an enforceable ethics code, according to two people briefed on the plans. He is also weighing whether to call for a constitutional amendment to eliminate broad immunity …

The Daily Beast reports: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been accused of not disclosing a yacht trip to Russia and a private helicopter flight to a palace in President Vladimir Putin’s hometown, among a slew of other gifts and loans from businessman Harlan Crow. Buried on page 14 of a letter that two Democratic senators sent to Attorney General …

Just in via press release: Today, July 10, 2024, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) introduced articles of impeachment against United States Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. “The unchecked corruption crisis on the Supreme Court has now spiraled into a Constitutional crisis threatening American democracy writ large. “Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito’s pattern of refusal to recuse from …

NBC News reports: “It is disgraceful that Justice Thomas and Alito brazenly refused to recuse themselves from this case,” Sen. Dick Durbin said. “As I’ve said before, the appearance of impropriety or partiality require recusal. Until Chief Justice Roberts uses his existing authority to enact an enforceable code of conduct, I will continue to push to pass the Supreme Court …

The New York Times reports: The Supreme Court limited the sweep of a federal law on Wednesday aimed at public corruption, ruling that it did not apply to gifts and payments meant to reward actions taken by state and local officials. The 6-to-3 ruling, which split along ideological lines, was the latest in a series of decisions cutting back federal …

Samuel Alito’s archenemy ProPublica reports: Billionaire political donor Harlan Crow provided at least three previously undisclosed private jet trips to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in recent years, an investigation by Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats has found. The flights, which were detailed by Crow’s lawyer in response to inquiries from the committee, took the justice to destinations including the region …

The Business Insider reports: The man who was raised by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, Ginni, as their own son from ages 6 to 19 is in jail awaiting trial on drugs and weapons charges, Business Insider has learned. Mark Martin, the grandson of Thomas’ sister, Emma Mae Martin, lived with the Thomas family in Virginia from …

The New York Times reports: Justice Clarence Thomas acknowledged on Friday additional luxury travel he had accepted from a conservative billionaire, amending a previous financial disclosure to reflect trips he had taken to an Indonesian island and a secretive all-male club in the Northern California redwoods. The trips, taken in 2019, were earlier revealed by ProPublica, but it is the …

CNBC reports: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted millions of dollars’ worth of gifts over the past two decades on the bench, a total nearly 10 times the value of all gifts received by his fellow justices during the same time, according to a new analysis. Thomas received 103 gifts with a total value of more than $2.4 million between …

Slate reports: The Supreme Court, he argued, should overrule every precedent that limits gerrymandering—including the landmark cases establishing “one person, one vote”—because it has no constitutional power to redraw maps in the first place. And he places much of the blame for the court’s allegedly illegitimate intrusion into redistricting on a surprising culprit: Brown v. Board of Education. Brown was, …

The Washington Post reports: After facing harsh questions about his judicial decisions and accepting lavish gifts from a billionaire, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas forcefully pushed back on his critics Friday — saying he and his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, have endured “nastiness” and “lies.” “What you are going to find, especially in Washington, is that people are going to …

NBC News reports: Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was not present at the court for oral arguments on Monday, with the court giving no reason for his absence. Chief Justice John Roberts said in court that Thomas “is not on the bench today” but would “participate fully” in the two cases being argued based on the briefs and transcripts. …

The Washington Post reports: The Senate Judiciary Committee sent a subpoena Thursday to conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo as part of a months-long inquiry into undisclosed gifts to Supreme Court justices and he promptly rejected it, calling the move “politically motivated.” “I am not capitulating to his lawless support of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and the left’s dark money effort to …