Justice Thomas “In His Own Words” – Director Michael Pack Gives Insight into New Film

The soon to be released film, Created Equal: Clarence Thomas In His Own Words, is a documentary that features Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas telling his story directly to the American people.

The movie was filmed over a six-month period from over 30 hours of interviews with the Justice.

Filmmaker Michael Pack is producing the movie with Manifold Productions, Inc., an independent film and television production company that he founded in 1977.

In an interview with The Daily Citizen, Pack said the movie was born out of Justice Thomas’ dismay that his reputation was being defined by his enemies, and that his jurisprudence and legacy were being tarnished with outright lies. 

“The idea was to let Justice Thomas tell his story directly to the American people, looking right at the camera, from his birth up to today,” Pack explained.

Indeed, Justice Thomas has a truly inspiring American story. Thomas is the Supreme Court’s longest serving justice, having been on the court for 28 years since then President George H.W. Bush appointed him in 1991.

He was born in abject poverty in Pin Point, Georgia and was raised by his grandfather whom Justice Thomas describes as, “The greatest man that I ever knew.” Prior to Created Equal, the Justice had recounted his story in print in his autobiography My Grandfather’s Son.

As a young man, Justice Thomas entered the seminary and wanted to become a Catholic priest. But he was soon disillusioned and left after overhearing a racist comment by a fellow student. As a result of dropping out of seminary, his grandfather kicked him out of the house.

Thomas then attended College of the Holy Cross where he became “an angry black man” due to the racial injustices he experienced, according to his autobiography. He soon got involved with the Black Student Union (BUS) and travelled to Boston, Massachusetts to take part in an antiwar rally that quickly deteriorated into a riot. 

After he graduated from Holy Cross with a BA in English, and realized his anger wasn’t helping his life, Thomas earned his law degree from Yale Law School. Upon graduation, he worked various jobs and was appointed Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) by President Reagan and was nominated and confirmed to both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the Supreme Court under President Bush.

During his confirmation hearing, Justice Thomas was accused of sexual harassment making the hearing one of the most contentious in history.

Justice Thomas denied the allegations and famously testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee, “From my standpoint, as a black American, as far as I’m concerned 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. Unless you kowtow to an old order, you will be lynched, destroyed and caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree.”

Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court in a close vote of 52-48. Since then, Justice Thomas has been a conservative stalwart, constantly arguing for the court to interpret the Constitution as originally written.

Summarizing Justice Thomas’ journey, Pack said, “He went from dire poverty in the segregated South to the highest court in the land. It’s an incredible journey and a great American story.”

According to Time Magazine, which viewed an advance screening of the film, Created Equal “offers viewers rare insight into the mind of a justice known for his reticence on the public stage.”

The film opens in select theaters on January 31st with more times and locations being added daily.

To view the trailer and find showtimes in your area, visit http://www.justicethomasmovie.com/

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