There are few Supreme Court justices or federal judges in any court, really, that are as respected as Justice Clarence Thomas. For decades, this man has stood up for what he believed in and refused to be swayed or bullied into submission – and all while consistently fighting to back the Constitution and our laws.
Naturally, this has earned him no small amount of criticism over the years.
As of late, the condemnation comes from the recently leaked draft opinion of him and four other conservative justices who are currently in the process of deliberating a very controversial abortion-related case.
If you haven’t heard, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health could potentially overturn the infamous Roe v. Wade case of 1973 that made abortion legal on a federal level in the US.
While the current case is far from being finalized, an opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito and agreed upon by most of the other conservative justices was leaked that hinted that should the conservative voice prevail, Roe will, in fact, be overturned, giving the question of abortion legality over to the individual states and not the federal government. This, in turn, could essentially ban abortion of nearly all kinds in many conservative-leaning states.
Naturally, the political left and liberal-backed mainstream media are none too happy about that possibility. And so they have been hitting those like Justice Thomas, as one who agrees Roe should be overturned, extremely hard. They’ve even suggested as of late that he is a poor excuse for a SCOTUS justice, has never done his job well, and, as such, should resign and leave the High Court.
But, as usual, Thomas isn’t about to bow to their wishes or even consider dropping his beliefs or convictions just because he’s either offended someone or has an opinion that someone else doesn’t agree with.
And he said as much at a speaking event in Dallas, Texas, on Friday.
When confronted with the idea that politically swayed media outlets were calling for his resignation, he had just one thing to say to them. “I will absolutely leave the court when I do my job as poorly as you do yours.”
Boom… As I said, he’s nothing if not a legend.
I mean, here is a man who could easily bow to the pressures of those around him, especially since they have done such a good job of painting him a poor excuse for a black man in the past. And yet, time and time again, he’s proved that he will not be pushed into submission.
He even reiterated this in early May, shortly after the leak was made.
While he noted that events of that week, including a number of protests and intimidation campaigns staged against the conservative justices, were “unfortunate,” he added that neither he nor the court, in general, would be “bullied.”
As Reuters reported, he said, “We can’t be an institution that can be bullied into giving you just the outcomes you want.” He added that society as of late has seemed to teach us that if we don’t get our way, we need to complain, fight those outcomes, and not be willing to live with them if we “don’t like” them.
But that can’t be how our government or courts of law work. First of all, justice has to prevail. And when it does, those governing bodies must stick to that decision despite how much some in society may not like it. If not, what is the point of even having such “institutions,” as Thomas says?
As the longtime justice explains, institutions like the Supreme Court, like Congress, require trust from the American people. When that trust is lost due to things like opinion leaks and decisions being changed based on justices being intimidated, it “fundamentally” “changes” those institutions. In fact, Thomas calls it a “kind of an infidelity” that has you constantly looking “over your shoulder” and wondering how much longer the institution will last.
And that is precisely why we need legendary justices like Clarence Thomas who won’t be swayed or bullied into making decisions just to please one side or the other. It’s also why the political left likely won’t get Thomas’ resignation any time soon.