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…
Justice Clarence Thomas dissented from the Supreme Court’s order delaying the decision in a redistricting case out of Louisiana.
The majority indicated it would rehear the case in the fall, stating in the order, “In due course, the Court will issue an order for scheduling argument and specifying any additional questions to be addressed in supplemental briefing.“
Justice Thomas maintained that the court’s precedent upholding Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which supports the representation of minorities, is at odds with the U.S. Constitution prohibiting racial gerrymandering.
Justice Thomas wrote, “These cases put the Court to a choice: It may permit patent racial gerrymandering under the auspices of [Section 2] compliance, or it may admit that, as the Court has construed the statute, a violation of [Section 2] is insufficient to justify a race-based remedy. That decision should be straightforward.”
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
