Clarence Thomas

Clarence Thomas
Official portrait, 2007
Clarence Thomas
Born	23 6, 1948
Birthplace	Pin Point, Georgia, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Jurist, lawyer
Title	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Known for	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Education	Yale Law School (J.D.)
Awards	Horatio Alger Award

Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1991. Nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall, Thomas became the second African American to serve on the nation's highest court. Born into poverty in a small Gullah community near Savannah, Georgia, Thomas was raised by his maternal grandfather after his father abandoned the family. He graduated with honors from the College of the Holy Cross in 1971 and earned his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1974. Before joining the Supreme Court, Thomas served as an assistant attorney general in Missouri, a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator John Danforth, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education, and Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). His confirmation hearings in 1991 became one of the most contentious in American history, centering on allegations of sexual harassment brought by Anita Hill, a former subordinate. The Senate confirmed Thomas by a vote of 52–48, the narrowest margin for a Supreme Court confirmation in a century. Since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, Thomas has been regarded as the Court's foremost originalist. He has been the longest-serving member of the Court since Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement in 2018 and the oldest sitting member since Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement in 2022.

Early Life

Clarence Thomas was born on June 23, 1948, in Pin Point, Georgia, a small, predominantly African American community founded by freedmen after the Civil War. The community, located near Savannah, was home to a Gullah-speaking population that had preserved many cultural traditions rooted in West African heritage. Thomas's father abandoned the family when Clarence was young, leaving his mother to raise him and his siblings in difficult economic circumstances.

After a fire destroyed their home, Thomas and his younger brother were sent to live with their maternal grandfather, Myers Anderson, in Savannah. Anderson, a devout Roman Catholic, became the defining influence in Thomas's early life. A self-made businessman who operated a fuel oil delivery service, Anderson instilled in Thomas a strong work ethic and insisted on discipline, self-reliance, and the value of education. Thomas later credited his grandfather as the most important figure in his upbringing.

Growing up under Anderson's strict guidance, Thomas attended all-Black Catholic schools in Savannah, where he was educated by Irish nuns. The religious instruction and academic rigor of these institutions shaped his intellectual development. Thomas became deeply committed to the Catholic faith and as a young man aspired to enter the priesthood. He enrolled at a seminary in Missouri with the goal of becoming a Catholic priest.

However, Thomas's experience at the seminary proved disillusioning. He encountered racial prejudice from fellow seminarians and grew increasingly dissatisfied with what he perceived as the Catholic Church's insufficient efforts to combat racism. After reportedly hearing a fellow student express satisfaction upon learning of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, Thomas decided to leave the seminary. He abandoned his aspiration to join the clergy, a decision that marked a significant turning point in his life and redirected him toward a career in law and public service.

Education

Thomas enrolled at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he was one of a small number of African American students. At Holy Cross, Thomas was an active participant in campus life and became involved in civil rights activism. He helped found the Black Student Union at the college. Thomas graduated cum laude from Holy Cross in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature.

Following his undergraduate education, Thomas entered Yale Law School, where he earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1974. At Yale, Thomas became increasingly skeptical of affirmative action policies, which he felt cast doubt on the genuine achievements of minority students. He later described feeling that his Yale degree was devalued in the eyes of potential employers who assumed he had been admitted primarily because of racial preferences rather than academic merit. This experience contributed to his evolving political philosophy and his later opposition to affirmative action as a jurist.

Career

Early Legal Career and Government Service

After graduating from Yale Law School, Thomas was admitted to the Missouri bar in 1974 and began his career as an assistant attorney general under Missouri Attorney General John Danforth. In this role, Thomas worked on tax and environmental cases. He subsequently moved into the private sector, working as an attorney for the Monsanto Company in St. Louis from 1977 to 1979.

When Danforth was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1979, Thomas followed him to Washington, D.C., serving as a legislative assistant. In this capacity, Thomas focused on energy and environmental issues. His work caught the attention of officials in the incoming Reagan administration, and in 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed Thomas as Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. Thomas served in this role for approximately one year, during which time he began to attract attention for his conservative approach to civil rights enforcement.

Chairman of the EEOC

In 1982, President Reagan appointed Thomas as Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency responsible for enforcing workplace anti-discrimination laws. Thomas served as EEOC Chairman from May 6, 1982, to March 8, 1990, spanning nearly eight years under both the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations.

As chairman, Thomas shifted the agency's enforcement approach away from class-action lawsuits and statistical methods of proving discrimination, favoring instead individual complaints of discrimination. He was critical of quotas and group-based remedies, arguing that civil rights enforcement should focus on specific instances of discrimination against individuals rather than systemic patterns. This approach drew both praise from conservatives who shared his philosophical orientation and criticism from civil rights organizations that viewed it as weakening enforcement.

Thomas's tenure at the EEOC was marked by controversy over the agency's handling of age discrimination claims. Reports surfaced that the EEOC had allowed thousands of age discrimination cases to lapse past their statute of limitations, effectively denying relief to the complainants. Thomas acknowledged the problem and took steps to address the backlog, but the episode damaged the agency's credibility and drew congressional scrutiny.

During his years at the EEOC, Thomas became an increasingly prominent voice in conservative intellectual circles. He delivered speeches and wrote articles articulating his views on natural law, individual rights, and the proper role of government in civil rights enforcement. He drew on the philosophical traditions of natural law and the writings of the American Founders to argue that the Constitution protected individual rights rather than group entitlements.

Court of Appeals

In 1990, President George H. W. Bush nominated Thomas to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, succeeding Robert Bork. Thomas was confirmed and took his seat on March 12, 1990. He served on the D.C. Circuit for approximately 19 months, during which time he authored a limited number of opinions. His relatively brief tenure on the appellate bench meant that he had a smaller judicial record than most Supreme Court nominees, a fact that became a point of discussion during his subsequent nomination to the high court. Thomas was succeeded on the D.C. Circuit by Judith W. Rogers.

Supreme Court Nomination and Confirmation

On July 1, 1991, President Bush nominated Thomas to fill the Supreme Court seat being vacated by the retiring Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to serve on the Court. The nomination was immediately significant for both legal and symbolic reasons: Thomas, a conservative jurist, was being nominated to replace the Court's most liberal member and its first Black justice.

Thomas's confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee began in September 1991 and were initially contentious but proceeded along predictable lines, with senators questioning Thomas about his judicial philosophy, his views on natural law, and his record at the EEOC. However, the proceedings were upended when allegations of sexual harassment made by Anita Hill, a law professor at the University of Oklahoma and former subordinate of Thomas at both the Department of Education and the EEOC, were leaked to the press.

Hill alleged that Thomas had made repeated unwelcome sexual comments and advances during the time she worked for him. The Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by then-Senator Joe Biden, reopened the hearings to allow Hill to testify publicly. Her testimony, broadcast live on national television, captivated the nation and sparked an intense national debate about sexual harassment in the workplace, race, gender, and political power.

Thomas categorically denied all of Hill's allegations. In a forceful statement before the committee, he described the proceedings as "a high-tech lynching for uppity Blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves." The phrase became one of the most memorable moments in the history of Supreme Court confirmations.

After days of dramatic testimony from both Hill and Thomas, as well as witnesses on both sides, the full Senate voted on October 15, 1991. Thomas was confirmed by a vote of 52–48, the narrowest margin for a Supreme Court confirmation in more than a century. Thomas took his judicial oath on October 23, 1991.

Jurisprudence on the Supreme Court

Since joining the Supreme Court, Thomas has developed one of the most distinctive and consistent judicial philosophies on the bench. He is an adherent of originalism, the theory of constitutional interpretation that seeks to determine and apply the original meaning of the Constitution's text as understood at the time it was adopted. Since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016, Thomas has been considered the Court's foremost originalist.

While both Thomas and Scalia embraced originalism, their approaches differed in important respects. Scalia's originalism was rooted in textualism and tended to rely on the original public meaning of constitutional provisions. Thomas, by contrast, has pursued what scholars have described as a more classically liberal variety of originalism, drawing on natural law principles and the philosophical foundations of the American founding. Thomas has shown a greater willingness than Scalia to revisit and overturn precedent that he considers inconsistent with the original meaning of the Constitution, making him less committed to the doctrine of stare decisis.

Thomas is notable for several significant majority opinions. In Good News Club v. Milford Central School (2001), Thomas wrote the majority opinion holding that a public school's exclusion of a Christian children's club from meeting in school facilities after hours constituted viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment's free speech protections.

In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen (2022), Thomas authored the majority opinion affirming the individual right to carry firearms outside the home for self-defense under the Second Amendment. The decision established a new framework for evaluating firearm regulations, requiring that gun laws be consistent with the nation's historical tradition of firearms regulation.

Thomas's concurring opinion in McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010) argued that the right to keep and bear arms should be incorporated against the states through the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment rather than the Due Process Clause, a position that, while not adopted by the majority, attracted scholarly attention for its originalist analysis.

Thomas's dissent in Gonzales v. Raich (2005) argued that Congress lacked the constitutional authority under the Commerce Clause to criminalize the private cultivation and use of medical cannabis, contending that such activity did not constitute interstate commerce.

In Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006), Thomas filed a notable dissent arguing that the military commissions established by the Bush administration to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay were lawful and that the Court should defer to the executive branch's wartime authority.

Thomas has also taken distinctive positions on the scope of the Commerce Clause, the Establishment Clause, and the Eighth Amendment. In United States v. Lopez (1995), his concurring opinion argued for a narrow reading of the Commerce Clause that would have significantly limited congressional regulatory power.

Oral Argument Style

For much of his tenure, Thomas was known for his near-total silence during oral arguments. Between 2006 and 2016, he went approximately a decade without asking a question during oral arguments, a practice that attracted widespread media attention and commentary. Thomas explained his silence as reflecting his view that oral arguments were for the lawyers to present their cases and that justices' questions often served more to display their own views than to elicit useful information.

However, beginning in 2020, when the Supreme Court shifted to a telephonic argument format during the COVID-19 pandemic, Thomas began asking questions regularly. Under the new format, justices asked questions in order of seniority, and Thomas participated actively. He has continued to ask questions more frequently since the Court returned to in-person arguments.

Recent Decisions

As of 2026, Thomas continues to serve on the Supreme Court and remains an active participant in the Court's decisions. In February 2026, Thomas dissented from the Court's majority ruling on presidential tariff authority, arguing that the majority had fundamentally misread both the relevant statute and the Constitution's separation of powers provisions. Thomas's dissent, joined by Justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh, was notable for its expansive view of executive power in the area of trade policy. Commentary on the dissent noted that Thomas's position embraced a broad theory of executive authority that diverged from strict originalist readings of the Constitution's grant of tariff power to Congress.

Also in February 2026, Thomas authored the majority opinion in a case holding that the United States Postal Service cannot be sued for damages, even in instances of intentionally misdelivered mail. The 5–4 decision ruled against a Texas landlord who alleged that her mail had been intentionally withheld for two years. The ruling drew criticism from commentators who argued it could have implications for mail-in voting and accountability in mail delivery.

Personal Life

Thomas married Kathy Grace Ambush in 1971, shortly after graduating from the College of the Holy Cross. The couple had one son, Jamal Adeen Thomas. The marriage ended in divorce in 1984.

In 1987, Thomas married Virginia Lamp, a lobbyist and attorney who later became active in conservative political organizations. Virginia Thomas, known as Ginni Thomas, has been a prominent figure in conservative politics, founding the advocacy group Liberty Central and working with various conservative organizations. Her political activities have occasionally drawn scrutiny and raised questions about potential conflicts of interest with cases before the Supreme Court.

Thomas has spoken publicly about his upbringing, his grandfather's influence, and his personal struggles in his memoir, My Grandfather's Son, published in 2007. In the book, Thomas described his journey from poverty in Pin Point, Georgia, to the Supreme Court, including his struggles with alcohol as a young man and his embrace of conservative political philosophy.

Thomas is known to enjoy traveling by recreational vehicle across the United States during the Court's summer recess, a practice he has described as a way of connecting with ordinary Americans outside the elite circles of Washington, D.C.

Recognition

Thomas has been the subject of extensive scholarly analysis, biographical works, and media attention throughout his tenure on the Supreme Court. His confirmation hearings in 1991 remain among the most examined events in the history of the judicial confirmation process, and they are credited with raising national awareness of sexual harassment as a workplace issue.

Thomas has received several awards and honors over the course of his career. He was awarded the Horatio Alger Award, which recognizes individuals who have overcome adversity to achieve success. He has been a frequent speaker at legal conferences, law schools, and conservative organizations.

His judicial opinions have been the subject of considerable academic study. Legal scholars have noted that Thomas's originalist approach, while sometimes producing opinions that align with other conservative justices, has also led him to take positions at odds with the Court's majority on both the left and the right. His willingness to call for the overruling of established precedents has made him a polarizing figure in legal circles, with supporters praising his intellectual consistency and critics arguing that his approach would destabilize settled law.

Thomas has been profiled in numerous documentaries and biographical works. The 2020 documentary series Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words featured extensive interviews with Thomas discussing his life and judicial philosophy.

Legacy

As the longest-serving current member of the Supreme Court, Thomas has had a substantial impact on American constitutional law. His decades of opinions, concurrences, and dissents have influenced debates on the Commerce Clause, the Second Amendment, the First Amendment, affirmative action, and the proper scope of federal power.

Thomas's jurisprudential legacy is defined in large part by his commitment to originalism and his willingness to advocate for the overruling of precedents he considers inconsistent with the Constitution's original meaning. Several positions that Thomas articulated in lone dissents or concurrences earlier in his career were later adopted by Court majorities, a trajectory that his supporters point to as evidence of his intellectual influence on the development of constitutional law.

His career also carries broader significance as the second African American to serve on the Supreme Court. Thomas's path from a segregated community in Georgia to the highest court in the land has been cited as a reflection of both the possibilities and complexities of the American experience with race and opportunity. His conservative views on race-conscious policies, including affirmative action, have made him a central figure in debates about the role of race in American law and society.

Thomas's influence extends beyond his own opinions. His law clerks have gone on to occupy prominent positions in the judiciary, academia, and government, and his originalist approach has shaped a generation of conservative legal thinking. Whether assessed favorably or critically, Thomas's impact on the Supreme Court and American jurisprudence is a significant subject of ongoing scholarly and public discourse.