Tuesday marked five years since Justice Clarence Thomas last asked a question during the Supreme Court's oral arguments.
Thomas speaks in the court only on the few occasions during the year when he is called upon to read a decision. Throughout his nearly 20 years on the bench, he has sat silently and watched as his colleagues quiz the lawyers on their cases.
When asked to explain his silence, Thomas has said the oral arguments are unnecessary to deciding the cases, and perhaps even a sideshow. The justices rely on the written briefs and the lower-court opinions in making their decisions, he says. He has also suggested that more of his colleagues should follow his example, rather than interrupt the lawyers who making their arguments.
"So why do you beat up on people if you already know? I don't beat up on them. I refuse to participate. I don't like it, so I don't do it," he told law students at the University of Alabama two years ago.
Ask anybody about the Jewish vote for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the election,...
The United States will “run” Venezuela following an overnight military operation where Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro...
Joseph Tirrell was reaching the end of a vacation on 11 July, and watching TV at...
A federal judge on Tuesday rejected the Trump administration’s bid to block New York’s so-called Green...
