The debate over Clarence Thomas' luxury vacations
The Supreme Court justice has found himself at the center of a sticky ethical dilemma
![activists call for the impeachment of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas outside of the U.S. Capitol Building](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qVt42HbT54pVxVvbcEsVVV-415-80.jpg)
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has recently come under heavy scrutiny after a ProPublica report revealed he had taken several luxury vacations over the past two decades financed by billionaire Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow, which he never disclosed on financial disclosure forms. The lavish trips included flights on Crow's private jets and cruises on his "superyacht," one of which would have cost Thomas and his wife, Ginni Thomas, over $500,000, ProPublica estimated. The extent of gifts Thomas received from Crow has "no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court," ProPublica said.
Thomas stopped reporting his received gifts in 2004 after the Los Angeles Times reported on the tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts he had accepted over the previous six years, much of which came from Crow.
A group of Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts, imploring him to launch an investigation into the reports about Thomas's luxury vacations on a donor's dime without disclosing them. "If the Court does not resolve this issue on its own, the Committee will consider legislation to resolve it," the Democrats wrote. Should Thomas be held accountable for hiding his gifted vacations?
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
'The Supreme Court is not going to police itself'
The Supreme Court needs to reform how it polices itself, and should consider instituting a mandatory ethics code, says Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, in the Los Angeles Times. "In the meantime," Waldman opines, "Congress or the Justice Department should investigate Thomas' conduct to let the public know the facts and whether the gifts and trips he received violated the law." There is "ample precedent" for these types of investigations, Waldman explains, noting that Congress investigated Justice Abe Fortas in 1968 after he took "undisclosed support from a wealthy friend." Fortas resigned before he could be impeached.
"The Supreme Court is not going to police itself," Jamelle Bouie surmises in The New York Times. The only remedy to the court's corruption, Bouie adds, "is to subject it to the same checks and limits we associate with the other branches." The Democratic Party "will have to abandon its squeamishness about challenging and shaping the Supreme Court." In the end, "it is up to elected officials to remind the court that it serves the republic and not the other way around," Bouie concludes.
Democrats are just trying to 'smear' conservative justices
The news about Thomas's luxury excursions is a "non-bombshell" that the left is using to smear the Supreme Court, The Wall Street Journal said in an editorial. The demands that Thomas resign or be investigated or impeached "give away the real political game here." Thomas's critics intend to "smear the conservative Justices and tarnish the Court to tee up case recusals, impeachment or a Court-packing scheme if Democrats get enough Senate votes to break the filibuster," the Journal added.
The only scandal Bret Stephens of The New York Times sees is that the luxury trips don't match Thomas's "self-portrait as a guy who likes to drive his R.V. around the country, spending nights in Walmart parking lots." No rules required justices to disclose information about vacations taken with wealthy friends until last month. That makes the idea of "the idea of trying to toss him off the court a nonstarter," Stephens mused, "not to mention a bad precedent lest some liberal justices turn out to have rich and generous friends, too."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Theara Coleman has worked as a staff writer at The Week since September 2022. She frequently writes about technology, education, literature and general news. She was previously a contributing writer and assistant editor at Honeysuckle Magazine, where she covered racial politics and cannabis industry news.
-
Today's political cartoons - June 30, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - crybaby, alpha and omega, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 red-hot cartoons about the rising temperatures
Cartoons Artists take on personal experience, fridge logic, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Donald Sutherland: brilliant Canadian actor overlooked by the Oscars
In the Spotlight The actor was best known for performances in 'M*A*S*H', 'Don't Look Now' and 'The Hunger Games'
By The Week UK Published
-
Supreme Court sides with Biden in social media case
Speed Read The federal government may continue to flag misinformation on social media platforms, the court ruled
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Biden warns of more Trump Supreme Court picks
Speed Read President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama discussed the repercussions of a second Trump term at a fundraiser
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court rejects abortion pill challenge
Speed Read Access to mifepristone has been preserved, though some think it is only a temporary victory
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Will abortion decide the 2024 elections?
Talking Points Abortion access is on the ballot in several states and a focus in the presidential campaign. The question is whether it will boost Democrats as much as they hope.
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The road to theocracy
Opinion When justices and presidents promote one religion
By William Falk Published
-
'How many people will vote for RFK Jr. as a protest against the real choices?'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Alito rejects calls to recuse over flag furor
Speed Read Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said he will not sit out the Jan. 6 Capitol riot cases
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Customers can have any car they want as long as it's electric'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published