Clarence Thomas Becomes Nation’s Second Longest-Serving Supreme Court Justice
Congratulations, Justice Clarence Thomas!
On Wednesday, May 6, Thomas officially became the second longest-serving justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, serving for 34 years and 195 days – that’s 12,605 days.
Justice Thomas was nominated to the Supreme Court by former President George H.W. Bush, and was confirmed as an associate justice on October 15, 1991, in a 52-48 vote following a brutal confirmation hearing process.
The 77-year-old Catholic justice beat out Justice Stephen Johnson Field, who was nominated to the Supreme Court by former President Abraham Lincoln, and served from 1863 until 1897.
Thomas, the second African American to serve on the Court, has been one of the Court’s most ardent defenders of originalism – interpreting the Constitution based on what it meant at the time it was written – rather than reinterpreting the text as judges might like it to mean today.
Thomas has been in the majority in numerous crucial decision, including in holding the Constitution does not guarantee a right to abortion (in Dobbs); in determining race-based college admissions violate the Constitution (in Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard); and in determining the Constitution permits states to protect kids from harmful transgender medical interventions (U.S. v. Skrmetti).
Justice Thomas has lived a remarkable life. He grew up in abject poverty in the segregated South, and was raised, along with his brother, by his grandparents.
Thomas studied for the Catholic priesthood for a time, before deciding to leave seminary, and turned into a radical racial revolutionary during his college years after witnessing the segregated South. He was inspired by black activists like Stokely Carmichael, H. Rap Brown and Angela Davis, among others.
After a particularly violent student demonstration, Thomas prayed and asked God to deliver him from his inner tumult, which became a crucial turning point for him.
Thomas then attended Yale Law School and worked for Missouri Attorney General John Danforth. After Danforth’s election to the U.S. Senate, Thomas followed him to Washington, D.C. and then worked in the Reagan administration in the Department of Education. He was then nominated by former President Ronald Reagan to chair the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where he served from 1982 until 1990.
Thomas then served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the most influential appellate court in the country, before being nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Thurgood Marshall.
If you have never read his autobiography, My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir, it is as fascinating as it is inspiring.
In a recent interview, Justice Neil Gorsuch recently sang Thomas’ praises on Fox News and gave a plug for the book.
“I adore that man. He is a great student and scholar of the Constitution. … He also has maybe the best laugh of anyone I know – a great booming laugh that echoes through the Court all the time,” Gorsuch said.
“People in the Court, he knows everybody’s name,” Gorsuch continued. “He is a man of great and deep faith. And he has lived the American story, the American dream. And if anybody wants to know more about Clarence Thomas, I just cannot recommend his book, My Grandfather’s Son, enough.”
Additionally, in 2020, an autobiographical film, Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words, was released detailing Thomas’ life, career and judicial philosophy.
You can watch a trailer for the film below:
In the film, Thomas talks about growing up with a grandfather who was extremely strict and very hard working.
When Thomas was seven years old, he recounts, “[My grandfather] says to us, ‘You are going to go to school every day. If you are sick, you’re still going. If you die, I will take your body for three days to make sure you are not faking.’ And he meant it.”
The clip has been making the rounds on X:
Justice Thomas clearly learned his lesson about the importance of hard work and dedication, which he brings to his well-reasoned, clear and scholarly opinions, year after year.
If Justice Thomas serves for two more years, he will beat out William O. Douglas to become our nation’s longest-serving Supreme Court justice.
Keep calm and carry on, Justice Thomas! We are deeply indebted to you and grateful for your service!
Related articles and resources:
Justice Thomas Warns Progressivism Opposes America’s Founding Principles
Clarence Thomas Becomes Nation’s Fifth Longest-Serving Supreme Court Justice
Celebrating Clarence Thomas’ Remarkable 32 Years on the U.S. Supreme Court
On This Independence Day, Clarence Thomas Explains What’s Great About America
Justice Clarence Thomas Spotted Laying Wreaths at Arlington Cemetery to Honor our Military
Celebrating Giants Like Justice Clarence Thomas During Black History Month
Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words
Photo from Getty Images.
