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January 6, 2005
Justice Kickback

The L.A. Times reports on gifts accepted by members of the Supreme Court, most notably Clarence Thomas, who has accepted gifts valued at over $42,000

WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts since joining the high court, including $1,200 worth of tires, valuable historical items and a $5,000 personal check to help pay a relative's education expenses.

The gifts also included a Bible once owned by the 19th century author and abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass, which Thomas valued at $19,000, and a bust of President Lincoln valued at $15,000.

He also took a free trip aboard a private jet to the exclusive Bohemian Grove club in Northern California -- arranged by a wealthy Texas real estate investor who helped run an advocacy group that filed briefs with the Supreme Court.

Those and other gifts were disclosed by Thomas under a 1978 federal ethics law that requires high-ranking government officials, including the nine Supreme Court justices, to file a report each year that lists gifts, money and other items they have received.

Thomas has reported accepting much more valuable gifts than his Supreme Court colleagues over the last six years, according to their disclosure forms on file at the court.

L.A. Times

It's completely absurd that these guys are allowed to accept gifts from anybody at all. And tires? What's up with that? Dude can't buy his own damn tires?

More ridiculous is that even if there is an appearance of conflict of interest - as there was when Justice Scalia flew to Louisiana aboard Air Force II to go duck hunting with Dick Cheney, who just happened to have a case before the court right then - it's up to the Justice himself to determine if they should be removed from the case. Nice.

My favorite is Thomas' Frederick Douglass and Abe Lincoln memorabilia. Who does he think he's kidding? Those guys would have so totally hated him.

Posted by ahecht at January 6, 2005 11:26 AM
Comments

Previous Comments

You make an interesting claim. What would President Lincoln and Frederick Douglass have hated about Justice Thomas?

Posted by: Fritz at January 6, 2005 11:47 AM

Thomas' stance on affirmative action, civil rights issues, notably discrimination, and his basic position as an extreme conservative I don't think would really gel with Lincoln and Douglass.

Naturally, it's not a very serious comparison considering the gap of nearly 150 years of American history, but in terms of core principles, I say they'd hate him.

Posted by: Anthony at January 6, 2005 12:23 PM

Whoa -- okay answers to fritz question . . . but really? Frederick Douglas -- Clarence Thomas . . . we are talking different planets . . . Here's the scoop according to me on Fr. Douglas --- this guy transcended hate. That's right - - - this guy - because of his specific genius and the times he was part of was/is among the top 10 American visionaries and among the top 3 orators of the 19th Century . . . All that being said FD transcended hate because he was on a bigger mission . . he understood the depth and the breadth of the battle that lay before him and among other things he left an entire collection of Powerful Words . . . Let's Rock thru - 2005. Happy New Year!
PS. Andrew -- as usual you are right -- neither might say it publicly, but privately both Lincoln and Douglass would have despised CT . . Who knows - - - if Lincoln had not been assassinated . . there might have been no karmic need for Clarence Thomas to be anything more than a good lawyer . . . ???

Posted by: Mike Melai at January 6, 2005 11:31 PM