[h=3]By JESS BRAVIN[/h]WASHINGTON—Justice Clarence Thomas made history Monday at the Supreme Court—not by what he said, but by saying something at all.
For the first time since 2006, Justice Thomas spoke audibly during oral argument, in a case brought by a Louisiana defendant seeking to overturn his murder conviction. The case involved the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial, but it wasn't a question of constitutional law that prompted Justice Thomas to break his silence.
Instead, the conservative justice apparently was moved to rebut a positive reference to his alma mater, Yale Law School. His remark came during an exchange in which Justice Antonin Scalia sought to extol the qualifications of lawyers who had worked on the defense, as a way of suggesting the defendant had received adequate representation.
One of the defense lawyers went to Yale Law, Justice Scalia observed, while another was a graduate of Harvard Law School. Amid crosstalk among the justices—all of whom attended either Harvard or Yale—Justice Thomas made a remark to the effect that if the lawyer went to Yale, the defendant must not have received competent counsel, according to several people present.
The court's official transcript records Justice Thomas as saying only, "Well—he did not—"
In his memoir, Justice Thomas writes about the stigma he feels as a black graduate of Yale Law School, since he fears that others assume he was admitted because of his race rather than his personal accomplishments.
"As a symbol of my disillusionment, I peeled a 15-cent sticker off a package of cigars and stuck it on the frame of my law degree to remind myself of the mistake I'd made by going to Yale," he writes.
Justice Thomas has said that he stopped asking questions during oral arguments because it rarely has helped him reach a decision.
"I think that when somebody's talking, somebody ought to listen," he said last year at the University of Kentucky, according to the Associated Press.
Write to Jess Bravin at [email protected]
For the first time since 2006, Justice Thomas spoke audibly during oral argument, in a case brought by a Louisiana defendant seeking to overturn his murder conviction. The case involved the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial, but it wasn't a question of constitutional law that prompted Justice Thomas to break his silence.
Instead, the conservative justice apparently was moved to rebut a positive reference to his alma mater, Yale Law School. His remark came during an exchange in which Justice Antonin Scalia sought to extol the qualifications of lawyers who had worked on the defense, as a way of suggesting the defendant had received adequate representation.
One of the defense lawyers went to Yale Law, Justice Scalia observed, while another was a graduate of Harvard Law School. Amid crosstalk among the justices—all of whom attended either Harvard or Yale—Justice Thomas made a remark to the effect that if the lawyer went to Yale, the defendant must not have received competent counsel, according to several people present.
The court's official transcript records Justice Thomas as saying only, "Well—he did not—"
In his memoir, Justice Thomas writes about the stigma he feels as a black graduate of Yale Law School, since he fears that others assume he was admitted because of his race rather than his personal accomplishments.
"As a symbol of my disillusionment, I peeled a 15-cent sticker off a package of cigars and stuck it on the frame of my law degree to remind myself of the mistake I'd made by going to Yale," he writes.
Justice Thomas has said that he stopped asking questions during oral arguments because it rarely has helped him reach a decision.
"I think that when somebody's talking, somebody ought to listen," he said last year at the University of Kentucky, according to the Associated Press.
Write to Jess Bravin at [email protected]