The notoriously silent Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas asked several questions during arguments Monday in a case about a ban on gun ownership for domestic-violence offenders.
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Over the years Thomas has offered a variety of reasons for his silence from the bench.
“Can you give me a – this is a misdemeanor violation”. Then Thomas shocked the courtroom by asking her whether she could think of any other example of where a misdemeanor criminal conviction could deprive an American citizen of a constitutional right for a lifetime-in this case the right to own a firearm, “which at least as of now is still a constitutional right”, he quipped.
He last asked a question on February 22, 2006 in a case concerning the death penalty. It suspends a constitutional right. However he made his way to the court, Thomas has never been a Scalia flunky and this morning he demonstrated that he has a thoughtful, if extremely conservative, approach to bring to issues before the nation’s highest court. In a somewhat obscure criminal case involving domestic violence and gun rights, Voisine v U.S., the court is considering a case that could make it easier for people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence cases to keep their gun rights. No, he was told. The court is expected to release transcripts of the exchange Monday afternoon. He is alone in that belief.
BloombergBNA’s Kimberly Robinson tweeted that none of the other justices seemed surprised, but others in the courtroom were reportedly shocked by the sudden interrogation from Thomas. But on Monday, the first Supreme Court session after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, Thomas was active and vocal.
That discussion focused on the adequacy of the lawyers provided by the state of Louisiana to a defendant later convicted of second-degree murder.
In 2012, he told CNN’s Piers Morgan that when he was a young lawyer he appeared before the Justices as an advocate and was only asked two questions.
“Okay”, Thomas responded. “So can you think of a First Amendment suspension or a suspension of a First Amendment right that is permanent?”
The court’s sole African American, Thomas supports “originalism” – the idea championed by Scalia that the constitution must be interpreted according to the Founding Fathers’ original intent.
Eight justices now sit on the Supreme Court instead of the usual nine as the White House braces for a showdown with the Senate’s Republican majority over the appointment of a replacement for Scalia, who died earlier this month.
Justice Thomas has said in the past he prefers not to “badger” lawyers as they present their arguments in court.
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But Thomas peppered Eisenstein with several questions about Second Amendment gun rights, a topic no other justice had asked about.
