General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSince at least November of 2020 when the election was called for Joe Biden, everyone with
a pulse has known it is highly likely, to say the least, that the SCOTUS will be called upon to decide cases involving Trump and his inner circle and their efforts to overturn the election "by hook or by crook".
And, during this time, while the SCOTUS was expected to soon be ruling on these cases, Ginni Thomas---wife of Justice Clarence Thomas---was emailing state legislators and urging them to ignore the actual vote totals and simply submit a "clean slate" giving the state's electoral vote to Trump.
Does anyone believe Clarence was ignorant of this?
This is a situation which in virtually any other court in the land would require that Thomas recuse himself from any case involving Trump's actions in trying to cling to power. In any other court, judges are required to recuse themselves not only from cases in which they have a clear conflict of interest or bias, but also in cases where there is the APPEARANCE of bias or a conflict of interest.
Thomas's refusal to recuse himself from these cases where it "appears" his household strongly favors overturning the 2020 election, is not just shameful, it us despicable. He may as well buy a full page ad in the New York Times stating " Yes, of course I know that you know I will vote in Trump's favor in any case brought before the SCOTUS. SO WHAT?"
Does anyone care?
Ms. Toad
(34,055 posts)There is no such thing as a "household" opinion. Even if his wife fully and vocally encouraged violation of the law, it is still not attributable to Thomas - unless her actions were part of a case he was deciding.
That said, knowing his wife's opinions, and her access to Trump, he had an obligation to inquire as to whether her communications with Trump were included in the communications which were the subject of the recent court decision on Trump's claim of executive privilege on which he was the sole dissenter. Once he learned his wife's communication were part of the subect of the case, he had an obligation to recuse himself.