Justice Under Fire

This past week, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, have gained national attention as exposure of Mrs. Thomas’s political opinions sparked controversy across the country.

On Friday, March 25, CNN published an article detailing text messages sent between Mrs. Thomas and Mark Meadows, former White House Chief of Staff under the Trump administration. 

According to the article, Meadows gave the text messages to the congressional Jan. 6 committee. The messages garnered national interest, even causing some members of Congress to discuss impeaching Thomas. However, many have regarded the talks of impeachment as overkill and nothing but political motivation to sway the court to political bias.

The text messages between Mrs. Thomas and Meadows happened in the days leading up to the Capitol riot; Mrs. Thomas contacted Meadows and encouraged him to “Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!” 

Shortly after Joe Biden was declared the projected winner of the 2020 Presidential Election, Mrs. Thomas again contacted Meadows, texting, “You are the leader, with him, who is standing for America’s constitutional governance at the precipice. The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), expressed his opinion and opposition of Mrs. Thomas’s comments, even calling Thomas’s Supreme Court seat into question. An AP News article detailed Sen. Blumenthal’s opposition, citing his Tweet: “Why didn’t Justice Thomas recuse himself in the Trump records case in light of Ginni Thomas’ apparent active involvement?”

Other members of Congress such as Oregon Sen. Merkley and Sen. Wyden echoed Blumenthal’s same point and called for Thomas’s recusal over his wife’s comments. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to call for Thomas’s resignation from the Supreme Court, according to an Insider article published on Thursday, March 31.

In response to Democratic Congressional members’ recusal calls, many have deduced Mrs. Thomas’s text messages to Meadows had nothing to do with Thomas and his service on the Supreme Court. It could be inferred the calls for Thomas’s resignation teeter on the edge of infringement of the First Amendment right to freedom of speech. Is a person allowed to voice their opinion, regardless of if their spouse holds political office? The answer should be a resounding yes, since freedom of speech is one of the United States’ most widely recognized rights, vital to the preservation of the constitutional republic we hold so dear.

Congressional Democrats are once again expressing their disdain for the conservative-majority Supreme Court, personally attacking justices and trying to draw lines of correlation where there are none. 

In an Axios article published on March 30, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered his remarks on Thomas’s resignation push, deeming the calls as a “‘tired old tactic’ by Democrats to ask various justices to recuse themselves over ‘spurious accusations about fake ethical problems or partiality.’” McConnell also said calling for Thomas’s resignation based on Mrs. Thomas’s messages have “no basis in Justice Thomas’ decades of impeccable service on the court. The justice and the entire court should feel free to completely ignore all of this.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also voiced his support for Thomas amid the controversy: “The only thing I would say is, Clarence Thomas, greatest living Justice and one of the greatest public servants in America.”

As many across the nation agree with DeSantis and see no correlation between Mrs. Thomas and Thomas’s Supreme Court rulings, the attention is slowly being refocused to Thomas’s congressional opposition, who have been accused themselves of working purely on political motivation and taking part in far-reach power grabbing.

The situation serves to remind Americans that some politicians strive to politicize the Supreme Court, making the defense of the court’s independence from political bias all the more vital.