Clarence Thomas: Trailblazer of Sexual Harassment and Unrepentant Rapist

#ClarenceThomas's #SupremeCourt career has set important precedents - for example, the the unrepentant rapist #BrettKavanaugh never would have made it to the bench but for the trail blazed by Thomas as a sexually harassing, pubic-hair strewing creep:https://t.co/jvcA5VX2Yu 1/ pic.twitter.com/9E71oNoKd9

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on https://t.co/iSBh8sqXw0, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:https://t.co/S9fKR75Pzw 2/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

Today, Thomas continues to steer the court into new territory - for example, he's interested in banning same-sex marriage again:https://t.co/J2xD5mhtF1 3/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

And of course, he's set precedent by hearing cases related to the attempted overthrow of the US government, despite the role his wife played in the affair:https://t.co/LxIRK8WVr2 4/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

Thomas is not alone in furthering the right's mission to destroy the morale of #ConLaw scholars by delegitimizing the court and showing it to be a vehicle for partisan politics and dark money policy laundering, but he is certainly at the vanguard:https://t.co/8hPliF0f6T 5/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

Today, @propublica published an expose on the vast fortune in secret gifts bestowed upon Thomas by the billionare #GOP megadonor #HarlanCrow, also one the most significant funders of political campaigns that put business before Thomas and the court:https://t.co/uPBQvFV4TZ 6/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

The story, reported by @js_kaplan, @JustinElliott and @Amierjeski is an investigative masterwork, drawing on aviation records, social media and other "open source" to expose the illegal, off-the-books "gifts" from a billionaire to an unaccountable SCOTUS justice-for-life. 7/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

Here are a two of those gifts: a private jet/superyacht jaunt around Indonesia valued at $500,000; and a $500,000 gift to #GinniThomas's #TeaParty group (which pays Ginni Thomas $120,000/year). 8/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

On top of that are literally priceless gifts: decades' worth of summers at #CampTopridge, Crow's private estate, with its waterfall, great hall, chefs, 25 fireplaces, boathouses, clay tennis court, batting range, 1950s soda fountain and full-scale repro of Hagrid's hut. 9/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

Summer retreats to Topridge allow business leaders like #LeonardLeo - the #FederalistSociety bankroller and mastermind who set Trump up to pack the Supreme Court - to coordinate in private with Thomas:https://t.co/8UKa123jBO 10/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

They also allow top execs from #PWC, #Verizon and other corporations who may have business before the court to establish a warm, collegial relationship with a judge whose decisions can make billions for their employers. 11/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

#Propublica points out Thomas got to hang out on Crow's superyacht with #MarkPaoletta, then general counsel for Trump's #OMB, and who has opposed any tightening of ethics rules for Supreme Court judges: "there is nothing wrong with ethics or recusals at the Supreme Court." 12/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

Crow and Thomas also hobnob together at Crow's Texas ranch, and at the #BohemianGrove, the Bay Area's ultra-luxe retreat for rich creeps. 13/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

Crow bought Thomas a private superyacht cruise through New Zealand, another through the Greek islands, and a river trip around Savannah, GA. He also traveled around the country on Crow's private jet - even a short private jet trip is valued around $70,000. 14/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

Crow also makes many donations on Thomas's behalf, from a $105,000 donation to #YaleLawSchool for the "Justice Thomas Portrait Fund" to paying for a 7' tall, 1,800 lb bronze statue of the nun who taught Thomas in the eighth grade, which now stands in a NY Catholic cemetery. 15/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

This is without precedent. No Supreme Court justice in US history received comparable gifts during their tenure on the bench. 16/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

Federal judges quoted in the story call it "incomprehensible," noting that US judges bend over backwards *not* to owe anyone any favors, going so far as to book restaurant reservations without using their titles. 17/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

Virginia Canter, a former US government ethics lawyer of bipartisan experience said Thomas "seems to have completely disregarded his higher ethical obligations," adding "it makes my heart sink." 18/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

The Supreme Court's own code of ethics prohibits justices from engaging in conduct that gives rise to the "appearance of impropriety," but the code is "consultative," and there are no penalties for violating it. 19/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

But US judicial officers - including Thomas - are legally required to disclose things like private jet trips. Thomas did not. In general, justices must report any gift valued at more than $415, where a gift is "anything of value." 20/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

This includes instances in which a gift is given by a corporation whose owner is the true giver.

Crow is a Red Scare-haunted plutocrat who says his greatest fear is "Marxism." 21/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

He was a key donor to the anti-tax extremists at the #ClubForGrowth, and has served on the board of the #AmericanEnterpriseInstitute - climate deniers who also claimed that smoking didn't cause cancer - for 25 years. 22/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

Crow is a proud dark-money source, too, whose $10m in acknowledged donations to GOP causes and candidates are the tip of the iceberg, next to the dark money he provided to groups he declines to name, telling the @NYTimes, "I don’t disclose what I’m not required to disclose." 23/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

Crow claims that the vast sums he's lavished on Thomas - who, again, presides over the test cases that Crow is helping to put before him - are just "hospitality." 24/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

Crow called the private retreats with business leaders and top government officials "gatherings of friends," and added he was "unaware of any of our friends ever lobbying or seeking to influence Justice Thomas" while at his private estates or on his superyacht or private jet. 25/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

For his part, Thomas publicly maintains that he hates luxury. In a Crow-financed documentary about Thomas's life, Thomas tells the camera, "I prefer the RV parks. I prefer the Walmart parking lots to the beaches and things like that. 26/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

"There’s something normal to me about it. I come from regular stock, and I prefer that — I prefer being around that." 27/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

Judges often have to make determinations about conflicts of interest, and lawyers have an entire practice devoted to preventing conflicts from arising. 28/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

I doubt whether Thomas himself would consent to have a dispute of his own tried in front of a judge who had received millions in gifts from his opponent. 29/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

The Supreme Court's power comes from its legitimacy. The project of delegitimizing the court started with the right, and Democrats have been loathe to participate in any activity that would worsen the court's reputation. 30/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

As a result, the business lobby and authoritarian politicians have had free rein to turn the court into a weapon for attacking American workers, American women, and LGBTQ people. 31/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

It doesn't have to be this way. When the Supreme Court blocked all of #FDR's #NewDeal policies - which were wildly popular - FDR responded by proposing age limits for Supreme Court judges. 32/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

When the Supremes refused to contemplate this, FDR asked Congress for a law allowing him to appoint one new Supreme Court judge for every judge who should retire but wouldn't. 33/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

As the vote on this bill grew nearer, the Supremes reversed themselves, voting to uphold the policies they'd struck down in their previous session. 34/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

They knew that their legitimacy was all they had, and when a brave president stood up to their bullying, they caved. https://t.co/EUvixhkl0c 35/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

The Supreme Court has moved America further away from the ideals of pluralistic democracy than we can even fathom, and they're just getting started. 36/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023

They are taking a wrecking ball to the lives of anyone who isn't a wealthy conservative, and they're doing it while accepting a fortune in bribes from American oligarchs. 37/

— Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr) (@doctorow) April 6, 2023