Justice Clarence Thomas
Supreme Court of the United States
Clarence Thomas was born in June 1948 in Pin Point, Georgia, and grew up in Savannah with his maternal grandparents. His parents were descendants of American slaves, and the family spoke Gullah as a first language. He was the only black person at his high school in Savannah, where he was an honor student. Raised Catholic, he considered entering the priesthood and attended Saint John Vianney Minor Seminary, later attending Conception Seminary College in Missouri. He earned an undergraduate degree in English literature from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He received a deferment from the military draft to serve in Vietnam due to having a curvature of the spine. He graduated from Yale Law School with a Juris Doctor.
He was appointed an Assistant Attorney General in Missouri and subsequently entered into the private practice of law. He served as a legislative assistant to Senator John Danforth of Missouri and was appointed Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. President Ronald Reagan appointed him Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Thomas was appointed by President George H.W. Bush for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where he served 18 months before being nominated to a seat on the United States Supreme Court. His confirmation hearings before the Senate were bitterly fought, but he was subsequently confirmed by a vote of 52-48, and assumed his position in October 1991, succeeding Justice Thurgood Marshall. He is the longest-serving justice among current Supreme Court members.
He is divorced from Kathy, with whom he has one child, and is married to Virginia. He is a Catholic.
In the News…
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Cox Communications is not liable for its customers’ pirating of music via illegal online downloads, overturning the determination of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The lawsuit had been brought by Sony Music Entertainment, which claimed the internet provider had not deterred nor ended service to customers who downloaded music they did not purchase.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the opinion, stating, “Internet service providers, such as Cox, have limited knowledge about how their Internet services are used and who uses them… More generally, Internet service providers also cannot directly control how their Internet services are used.”
“Cox states that it took steps to limit copyright infringement by those using its Internet services. Cox also contractually prohibits its subscribers from using their connection ‘to post, copy, transmit, or disseminate any content that infringes the patents, copyrights… or proprietary rights of any party,‘” Justice Thomas noted in the opinion.
“The provider of a service is contributorily liable for the user’s infringement only if it intended that the provided service be used for infringement,” the court determined. “Holding Cox liable merely for failing to terminate internet service to infringing accounts would expand secondary copyright liability beyond our precedents. … Cox repeatedly discouraged copyright infringement by sending warnings, suspending services, and terminating accounts.”
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Justice Thomas today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Justice Clarence Thomas
Supreme Court of the United States
1 First Street NE
Washington, DC 20543
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