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Clarence Thomas (Supreme Court)

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Clarence Thomas
Nonpartisan
Supreme Court of the United States
Tenure
1991 - Present
Years in position
34
Predecessor: Thurgood Marshall (Nonpartisan)
Prior offices:
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Years in office: 1990 - 1991
Successor: Judith Rogers (Nonpartisan)
Education
Bachelor's
College of the Holy Cross, 1971
Law
Yale Law School, 1974
Personal
Birthplace
Savannah, GA

Clarence Thomas is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. President George H.W. Bush (R) nominated Thomas to the Court on July 8, 1991, to a seat vacated by Thurgood Marshall. The full U.S. Senate confirmed Thomas by a vote of 52-48, on October 15, 1991.[1] Thomas was sworn in on October 23, 1991, becoming the second Black justice in U.S. history to sit on the Court. As of August 2025, he was the longest-serving active justice on the court.[2]

Thomas began his legal career as the assistant attorney general of Missouri from 1974 to 1977 under then-Attorney General of Missouri John Danforth (R). Thomas was charged with representing the State Tax Commission and parts of the Missouri Department of Commerce. Afterward, Thomas worked as an attorney for American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation Monsanto and later became a legislative assistant for Danforth in the U.S. Senate. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan (R) appointed Thomas as the assistant secretary for civil rights in the U.S. Department of Education. In 1982, Reagan appointed Thomas chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), where he served for eight years until President George H. W. Bush (R) nominated him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1990. The Senate confirmed him in March 1990.[3][4][5][6]

On July 1, 1991, Bush announced Thomas as his pick to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Bush said Thomas, "was my first appointee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia... And I believe he'll be a great Justice. He is the best person for this position."[7] During his confirmation hearings, Anita Hill, a former employee in the EEOC, accused Thomas of sexual harassment. Hill testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Thomas denied the allegations. The Senate voted 52-48 to confirm Thomas, and he was sworn in on October 23, 1991.[6] Click here to read more about Anita Hill's testimony during Thomas' confirmation hearings.

Oyez—a free law project from Cornell’s Legal Information Institute (LII), Justia, and Chicago-Kent College of Law—characterized Thomas as historically "known for his quiet, stoic demeanor during oral arguments," adding, "Thomas is notorious for his lack of questions during oral arguments."[6] In 2021, The New York Times reported that Thomas, who at one point did not ask a question during oral arguments over the course of a decade, had become talkative during the telephone oral arguments prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic when questions were asked justice-by-justice.[8] In 2022, Axios reported that despite Thomas' demeanor, his influence on the Court had grown with his seniority, "[A]s the makeup of the court has shifted around him, Thomas’ views have gotten more influential. And that influence will only grow. ... Thomas has spent years essentially laying out a whole parallel understanding of the law. ... [he] has created a whole ecosystem of opinions that build on and reference each other almost in the same way as the court’s actual precedents, except for the fact that they are all one man speaking only for himself."[9] Claremont McKenna College Professor Ralph Rossum, author of Understanding Clarence Thomas: The Jurisprudence of Constitutional Restoration, told Axios, "Thomas has been able to 'plow the field and plant the seeds' that other justices would later 'harvest' for their own majority opinions, even if they didn’t join Thomas at the outset... You see that coming to fruition again on abortion."

Oyez depicted Thomas' "conservative viewpoint that challenges, if not surpasses, even Justice Antonin Scalia’s originalism," adding, "[h]e has shown his opinions to lean farther right than any other justice on the bench today."[6] In a 2001 speech, Thomas said that judges "should seek the original understanding of the provision’s text if the meaning of that text is not readily apparent. This approach works... to reduce judicial discretion and to maintain judicial impartiality... By tethering their analysis to the understanding to those who drafted and ratified the text, modern judges are prevented from substituting their own preferences for the Constitution."[10] Constitutional historians and law professors have critiqued Thomas' interpretation and application of originalism in some cases as based on inaccurate readings of history and as ideologically results-oriented.[11][12]

Of Thomas' legacy and controversies, The Washington Post's Robert Barnes wrote, "Dedicated supporters are determined that... Thomas gets his due as one of the court’s most productive, if unortho­dox, thinkers."[13] Reuters' Richard Cowan wrote, "as one of the most conservative justices in a conservative-heavy Supreme Court, Thomas has been a lightning rod for liberals who have been frustrated by his rulings and his tone."[14]

Between the time he joined the court and the end of the 2023-2024 term, Thomas authored the majority opinion in a 5-4 decision 40 times and authored a dissent in an 8-1 decision 36 times. Some of Thomas’ notable opinions include:

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States Supreme Court (1991 - present)

Nomination Tracker
Fedbadgesmall.png
Nominee Information
Name: Clarence Thomas
Court: Supreme Court of the United States
Progress
Confirmed 99 days after nomination.
ApprovedANominated: July 8, 1991
ApprovedAABA Rating: Unanimously Qualified
Questionnaire:
ApprovedAHearing: September 10-20, 1991; October 11-13, 1991
Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
ApprovedAReported: October 1, 1991 
ApprovedAConfirmed: October 15, 1991
ApprovedAVote: 52-48

On July 1, 1991, President George H. W. Bush (R) nominated Thomas to replace Thurgood Marshall. President Bush said that Thomas was the "best qualified [nominee] at this time." He received a unanimous qualified rating from the American Bar Association.[15][16]

Thomas' formal Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings started on September 10, 1991, and ended on October 13, 1991. They occurred over 12 meetings of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee sent Thomas on without recommendation to the full U.S. Senate on September 27, 1991, as they voted 7-7.[17][18]

On October 6, 1991, the day before the full U.S. Senate was set to vote on Thomas' nomination the committee called Anita Hill, an attorney who had worked at the Department of Education and the EEOC with Thomas as her supervisor, to testify before the committee regarding her allegations of sexual harassment against Thomas.[17][18]

After Thomas was questioned about the Hill allegations, his nomination returned to the U.S. Senate, where he was confirmed with a 52-48 vote on October 15, 1991, the narrowest margin for approval in more than a century. The final floor vote was mostly along party lines; 41 Republicans and 11 Democrats voted to confirm while 46 Democrats and two Republicans voted to reject the nomination. On October 23, 1991, Thomas took his seat as the 106th associate justice of the Supreme Court.[19][20]

District of Columbia Court of Appeals (1990-1991)

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush (R) appointed Thomas to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to a seat vacated by Robert H. Bork.[21] Thomas served on the court for one year before his elevation to the Supreme Court of the United States.[22]


Biography

Thomas was born in 1948 in Pin Point, Georgia. Thomas attended high school in Savannah, Georgia, where he was an honors student. Raised Roman Catholic, Justice Thomas considered entering the priesthood at the age of 16 and attended St. John Vianney's Minor Seminary (Savannah) on the Isle of Hope. He earned a bachelor's degree in English from Holy Cross College, where he was one of the school's first Black students and a founding member of the school's Black Student Union. He graduated in 1971 with a B.A., cum laude, in English literature. Justice Thomas then attended Yale Law School, where he earned his J.D. in 1974.[6][23][24]

Professional career

Approach to the law

Thomas is considered a judicial conservative adhering to the principle of originalism.[25] Nina Totenberg of NPR called Thomas the "Supreme Court's Conservative Beacon" in July 2019.[26] Oyez, a law project created by Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, Justia, and Chicago-Kent College of Law, said in 2019 that Thomas "has shown his opinions to lean farther right than any other justice on the bench today."[6]

Thomas is known to rarely ask questions during oral arguments. In March 2019, Thomas asked two questions during arguments for Flowers v. Mississippi. CBS noted that it was the first time since 2016 and only the third time since 2006 that Thomas had spoken during an oral argument.[27]

Thomas is also known to write more concurring opinions or dissents than other justices on the court. The Washington Times wrote in 2016 that Thomas did so to lay the foundation for future rulings, saying the justice was "patiently planting seeds that, though they had no immediate impact, may eventually flower by the strength of their reason."[28]

Martin-Quinn score

Thomas' Martin-Quinn score following the 2023-2024 term was 3.1, making him the most conservative justice on the court at that time. Martin-Quinn scores were developed by political scientists Andrew Martin and Kevin Quinn from the University of Michigan, and measure the justices of the Supreme Court along an ideological continuum. The further from zero on the scale, the more conservative (>0) or liberal (<0) the justice. The chart below details every justice's Martin-Quinn score for the 2023-2024 term.

Video discussion

Thomas spoke at the Library of Congress in February 2018 discussing his memoir, the confirmation process, being on the court as an introvert, and his favorite and least favorite things about serving on the court. The video of that event is embedded below.

Thomas spoke at the Federalist Society's 2013 National Lawyers Convention Annual Dinner discussing his upbringing, religion, and originalism. The video of that event is embedded below.


Supreme Court statistics

Opinions by year

Below is a table of the number of opinions, concurrences and dissents that Thomas has issued since joining the Supreme Court, according to the data on Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute and the website SCOTUSblog. This information is updated annually at the end of each term.[29][30][31][32] Information for October term 2022-2023 is from a dataset provided by Dr. Adam Feldman, author of Empirical SCOTUS. Data for the 2022-2023 term does not include concurrences and dissents in part. Information for the 2023 term is from the Empirical SCOTUS 2023 Stat Review.

Opinions written by year, Clarence Thomas
2021-2022 2022-2023 2023-2024
Opinions 7 6 7
Concurrences 7 8 11
Dissents 8 8 5
Totals 22 22 23




Justice agreement

In the 2023-2024 term, Thomas had the highest agreement rate with Samuel Alito. He had the lowest agreement rates with Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.[33] In the 2022-2023 term, Thomas had the highest agreement rate with Samuel Alito. He had the lowest agreement rate with Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.[34] This does not include agreements in part.[35]

The table below highlights Thomas' agreement rate with each justice on the court during that term.[36][37]


Clarence Thomas agreement rates by term, 2017 - Present
Justice 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023 2023-2024
John Roberts 79% 76% 72% 75% 79% 75% 80%
Anthony Kennedy 83% N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Ruth Bader Ginsburg 55% 50% 49% N/A N/A N/A N/A
Stephen Breyer 55% 51% 52% 63% 48% N/A N/A
Samuel Alito 93% 85% 92% 82% 90% 85% 90%
Sonia Sotomayor 51% 50% 44% 55% 40% 65% 51%
Elena Kagan 59% 60% 50% 67% 49% 64% 51%
Neil Gorsuch 81% 81% 80% 88% 78% 76% 83%
Brett Kavanaugh N/A 80% 78% 78% 79% 73% 78%
Amy Coney Barrett N/A N/A N/A 85% 87% 82% 81%
Ketanji Brown Jackson N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 64% 53%

Frequency in majority

In the 2023-2024 term, Thomas was in the majority in 80 percent of decisions. Thomas was in the majority more often than three of the other justices.[33] In the 2022-2023 term, Thomas was in the majority in 76 percent of decisions. Thomas was in the majority less often than the other eight justices.[34]

Since the 2011-2012 term, Thomas has been in the majority more than 80 percent of the time five times. Across those terms, he has been in the majority on average in 78 percent of all cases.[32][38][39][40][33]

Noteworthy cases

See also: Noteworthy cases heard by current justices on the U.S. Supreme Court

The noteworthy cases listed in this section include any case where the justice authored a 5-4 majority opinion or an 8-1 dissent. Other cases may be included in this section if they set or overturn an established legal precedent, are a major point of discussion in an election campaign, receive substantial media attention related to the justice's ruling, or based on our editorial judgment that the case is noteworthy. For more on how we decide which cases are noteworthy, click here.


Since he joined the court through the 2023-2024 term, Thomas authored the majority opinion in a 5-4 decision 40 times and authored a dissent in an 8-1 decision 36 times. The table below details these cases by year.[41]

Clarence Thomas noteworthy cases
Year 5-4 majority opinion 8-1 dissenting opinion
Total 40 36
2023-2024 0 1
2022-2023 0 2
2021-2022 0 3
2020-2021 0 3
2019-2020 0 2
2018-2019 4 1
2017-2018 3 1
2016-2017 1 0
2015-2016 0 0
2014-2015 0 3
2013-2014 1 0
2012-2013 2 0
2011-2012 0 1
2010-2011 4 0
2009-2010 1 1
2008-2009 3 3
2007-2008 1 3
2006-2007 4 2
2005-2006 1 0
2004-2005 1 1
2003-2004 1 2
2002-2003 0 2
2001-2002 3 0
2000-2001 1 0
1999-2000 3 0
1998-1999 1 1
1997-1998 3 0
1996-1997 1 0
1995-1996 0 1
1994-1995 0 2
1993-1994 0 0
1992-1993 1 0
1991-1992 0 1

U.S. Supreme Court noteworthy opinions


Noteworthy events

Anita Hill sexual harassment allegations

Anita Hill was an attorney who had worked at the Department of Education and the EEOC where Thomas was her supervisor. During Thomas' confirmation process to the U.S. Supreme Court, an FBI interview with Anita Hill was leaked to the press. Hill was then called to testify publicly before the Senate Judiciary Committee at Thomas' confirmation hearings, as part of the committee's process of assessing the nominee's character and temperament. Hill detailed her allegations of sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas over the course of their professional relationship, and was questioned by the committee. Before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hill read a prepared statement as part of her testimony:[57][58]

“ It is only after a great deal of agonizing consideration that I am able to talk of these unpleasant matters to anyone but my closest friends. Telling the world is the most difficult experience of my life. I was aware that he could effect my future career and did not wish to burn all my bridges. I may have used poor judgment; perhaps I should have taken angry or even militant steps both when I was in the agency or after I left it, but I must confess to the world that the course I took seemed to me to be the better as well as the easier approach. I declined any comment to newspapers, but later, when Senate staff asked me about these matters, I felt I had a duty to report. I have no personal vendetta against Clarence Thomas. I seek only to provide the Committee with information which it may regard as relevant. It would have been more comfortable to remain silent. I took no initiative to inform anyone. But when I was asked by a representative of this committee to report my experience, I felt that have had no other choice but to tell the truth.[43] ”
—Anita Hill

Angela Wright, who had also worked for Thomas at the EEOC, was also present at the hearings, prepared to testify as to her own allegations of Thomas' sexual impropriety. She was never called to testify by the Senate Judiciary Committee.[59]

Thomas denied the allegations, stating:[60]

“ This is not an opportunity to talk about difficult matters privately or in a closed environment. This is a circus. It's a national disgrace. And from my standpoint, as a Black American, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree.[43] ”

The Federal Bureau of Investigations' (FBI) investigation returned with an inconclusive report on the allegations within three days.[6]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ U.S. Senate, "Vote Summary - Question: On the Nomination (Nomination - Clarence Thomas)," archived August 25, 2022
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Federal Judicial Center, "Thomas, Clarence," archived August 15, 2025
  3. ↑ Supreme Court Historical Society, "Clarence Thomas," archived August 15, 2025
  4. ↑ U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, "Clarence Thomas," archived August 15, 2025
  5. ↑ Justia, "Justice Clarence Thomas," accessed September 24, 2024
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Oyez, "Clarence Thomas," archived January 13, 2013
  7. ↑ American Presidency Project, "The President's News Conference in Kennebunkport, Maine," archived August 15, 2025
  8. ↑ The New York Times, "Justice Clarence Thomas, Long Silent, Has Turned Talkative," May 3, 2021
  9. ↑ Axios, "Clarence Thomas is at the peak of his power," July 2, 2022
  10. ↑ American Radio Works, "Be Not Afraid - American Enterprise Institute, Washington, D.C. - February 13, 2001," archived August 18, 2025
  11. ↑ Slate, "Clarence Thomas Went After My Work. His Criticisms Reveal a Disturbing Fact About Originalism.," June 20, 2023
  12. ↑ SCOTUSblog, "Cherry-picked history and ideology-driven outcomes: Bruen’s originalist distortions," June 27, 2022
  13. ↑ Washington Post, "For 25 years, it has been Clarence Thomas v. Controversy," October 30, 2016
  14. ↑ Reuters, "U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thomas' career marked by controversies," April 7, 2023
  15. ↑ New York Times, "The Supreme Court; conservative black judge, Clarence Thomas, is named to Marshall's court seat," July 2, 1981
  16. ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Thomas rated 'qualified' for court by ABA," August 28, 1991
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Library of Congress, "Presidential Nominations 102nd Congress (1991 - 1992) PN456-102: Clarence Thomas," accessed April 16, 2021
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 CNN, "Clarence Thomas fast facts," June 2, 2014
  19. ↑ NPR, "Thomas confirmation hearings had ripple effect," October 11, 2011
  20. ↑ Library of Congress, "Confirmation vote of Clarence Thomas," archived October 2, 2007
  21. ↑ Federal Judicial Center, "Bork, Robert Heron," archived August 19, 2025
  22. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Current justice biographies," archived August 15, 2025
  23. ↑ Washington Post, "Ted Wells, center of the defense," February 21, 2007
  24. ↑ Holy Cross, "Release of Justice Clarence Thomas ‘71 Documentary 'Created Equal' Attracts National Media Coverage," archived August 15, 2025
  25. ↑ National Constitution Center, "Justice Thomas, originalism and the First Amendment," February 20, 2019
  26. ↑ NPR, "Clarence Thomas: From 'Black Panther Type' To Supreme Court's Conservative Beacon," July 14, 2019
  27. ↑ CBS News, "Clarence Thomas speaks in Supreme Court case for first time since 2016," March 20, 2019
  28. ↑ The Washington Times, "Justice Clarence Thomas often stands alone as opinions set course for future," June 30, 2016
  29. ↑ Cornell University, "WRITINGS BY JUSTICE THOMAS," accessed June 16, 2014
  30. ↑ SCOTUSBlog, "Final Stat Pack for October Term 2016 and key takeaways," accessed April 16, 2018
  31. ↑ SCOTUSBlog, "Final Stat Pack for October Term 2017 and key takeaways," accessed October 4, 2018
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 SCOTUSblog, "STAT PACK for the Supreme Court's 2021-22 term," July 1, 2022
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 Empirical SCOTUS, "2023 Stat Review," July 1, 2024
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Empirical SCOTUS, "Another One Bites the Dust: End of 2022/2023 Supreme Court Term Statistics," November 16, 2023
  35. ↑ SCOTUSblog, "2020-21 Stat pack: Justice Agreement," July 2, 2021
  36. ↑ Due to a change in the 2020 stat pack format, the agreement rate uses the rate of agreement in judgment.
  37. ↑ Due to a change in the 2021 stat pack format, the agreement rate uses the rate of agreement in judgment.
  38. ↑ SCOTUSblog, "OT18 Frequency in the Majority," accessed July 3, 2019
  39. ↑ SCOTUSblog, "2020-21 Stat pack: Frequency in the majority," July 2, 2021
  40. ↑ SCOTUSblog, "Frequency in the Majority," accessed September 21, 2020
  41. ↑ The Supreme Court Database, "Analysis," accessed June 11, 2019
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 U.S. Supreme Court, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, decided June 24, 2022
  43. ↑ 43.00 43.01 43.02 43.03 43.04 43.05 43.06 43.07 43.08 43.09 43.10 43.11 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  44. ↑ Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "18 U.S. Code § 3624 - Release of a prisoner," accessed August 22, 2025
  45. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, Mont v. United States, decided June 3, 2019
  46. ↑ U.S. Supreme Court, Stokeling v. United States, decided January 15, 2019
  47. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt," decided May 13, 2019
  48. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. v. Jackson, decided May 28, 2019
  49. ↑ Kansas Supreme Court, State v. Kleypas, decided December 28, 2001
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 50.2 Oyez, "Kansas v. Marsh," archived August 21, 2025
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 51.2 U.S. Supreme Court, Kansas v. Marsh, decided June 26, 2006
  52. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, Good News Club v. Milford Central School, decided June 11, 2001
  53. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, Good News Club v. Milford Central School, decided June 11, 2001
  54. ↑ 54.0 54.1 NPR, "Partial-Birth Abortion': Separating Fact From Spin," February 21, 2006
  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 Supreme Court of the United States, Stenberg v. Carhart, decided June 28, 2000
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 Oyez, "Stenberg v. Carhart," accessed August 21, 2025
  57. ↑ Internet Archive, " The complete transcripts of the Clarence Thomas--Anita Hill hearings, October 11, 12, 13, 1991," archived April 8, 2020
  58. ↑ GovInfo, "NOMINATION OF JUDGE CLARENCE THOMAS TO BE ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES - HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED SECOND CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON THE NOMINATION OF CLARENCE THOMAS TO BE ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES," October 11-13, 1991
  59. ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Senators’ Private Deal Kept ‘2nd Woman’ Off TV : Thomas: Democrats feared Republican attacks on Angela Wright’s public testimony. Biden’s handling of the hearing is criticized.," October 17, 1991
  60. ↑ University of Virginia Library, "Hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court," archived October 16, 2014

Political offices
Preceded by
Thurgood Marshall 		Supreme Court of the United States
1991-Present		 Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
- 		United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
1990-1991		 Succeeded by
Judith Rogers



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