Last Friday, the third Supreme Court Justice in three years spoke at my law school. This time it was Justice Clarence Thomas, who confirmed for me three things:
1. Anyone can become a Supreme Court justice with luck and timing.
2. Getting on the Court tends to push to the fore whatever bit of arrogance was hiding inside of you. Evidence: in discussing his love of motorhomes, all things motorhome related, and the extreme joy motorhomes bring him, Thomas said “So, the next time you are sitting blocked in traffic behind a motorhome, remember that it might be me. And that I am happy, and you are not.”
3. The phrase “Its not something I ever think about” (or, his other wording of this phrase: “I don’t have a dog in that fight” - got to love a bloodsport analogy) will get you out of most difficult questions. Following closely is Scalia’s “I never pay attention to such things” and ”I only pay attention to the words on the page.” Breyer’s form of this non-answer was “We have to deal with the argument the case brings us.” All three used their particular form of evasive answer when asked how they consider how their rulings will effect society. All three also discussed at some point exactly how the Court’s decisions impacted society (Scalia, Lawrence v. Texas; Breyer, Bush v. Gore; and Thomas; Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, & Grutter v. Bollinger). I would like to know Kennedy’s phrase.
On a more serious note, most schools never see a Justice and I have been lucky enough to have one come to my school, in the middle of Arkansas, each year of my law school experience. For all the things that the administration does that I dislike, it is also true that someone is doing something right. Keep up the good work (can we get a double digit US News ranking?) and I might donate a new building some day.
Filed under: Legal Academics, Unrelated
