Justice Clarence Thomas has secretly accepted luxury trips from a major Republican donors

Sounds like he may have been technically within the rules. Certainly, any case in which Crow or one of his properties was a party and Thomas did not recuse himself should have Thomas's vote nullified and should result in Thomas's removal from the court (which would aggrieve me greatly, as he is my personal favorite justice). It may be worthwhile to eliminate the exemption for receipt of gifts from friends, and he can just pay his own way if he wants to vacation with Crow.

 

The fact that their interests align and that value was given is enough. That's the bar for ethics violation and corruption.

 

Lifetime appointments for judges is stupid. Thomas should get the boot for this

that being said, there’s no bigger whipping boy and an excuse for white liberals to be racist than when they see a black conservative

a poster literally said this a week ago, that blacks don’t know what’s best for them when they vote red @thegary

 

One of the hopes of the ChatGPT CEO was to bring nuance back to discussions.

JudgeGPT (based on GPT9) doesn't sound too bad. I'm already ready to give human judgement away lol.

 

That gets my vote

 

What?

 

I wonder what would happen if it came out Elena Kagan has been friends with George Soros for years. She accepted millions of dollars in gifts and didn't report them. Hell even if she did report them. Then she took flights on George's private plane without him on board. I am sure the right leaning members on this board would be defending her just like they are defending Thomas.

 

I would demand she resign.

 

I would demand she step down too. The perception of a corrupt court destroys its legitimacy.

 

Brass tacks folks:

You don't give someone a half million dollar yacht trip for free unless you want something in return.

 

Well said and this is why even though we have frequent differences I do appreciate you standing by on principle.

 

Their interests align regardless. I don't have a problem with Thomas being punished for not reporting the gifts but it's still a stretch to say Crow was paying for judgements. No one is making that accusation because Thomas's rulings follow his politics. He's considered the most conservative justice

 

They probably do align well, but to what degree, no one knows except for those two. Thomas was also once poor and a radical leftist. He changed over time and became more conservative after being influenced by conservative thinkers. Maybe he hasn't changed at all since he was seated on the Supreme Court, but we don't really know that, and we really don't know what Crow may or may not have influenced through his "gifts" over the last 25 years. As an ethical judge, you just want to avoid even appearing to be influenced.

 

Appreciate your post. Honest question: Does he remain your favorite justice if he showed this kind of judgement (simply from what we know already)? Or do you separate his votes on the court (and or his writings, few and far between?) from his personal conduct outside the court?

Just curious. Not a 'gotcha'.
I don't have a favorite justice so would be hard-pressed to put myself in your shoes.

 

Weird. He collects Nazi stuff and black guys?

 

Plot for last Tarantino movie?

 

You would think it would be harder to find a black man to do your White Nationalist bidding.