Very cool that paying interest on a loan counts as full repayment to a SCOTUS justice. I'm looking forward to what this means he'll vote in any further student loan cases.
Shame on Justice Thomas, who feels that he is above the law. (And shame on his wife Gini, who blatantly encouraged the insurrection of January 6th.) Justice Thomas is not the only member of the Supreme Court to fail to report “gifts”, but he is unapologetic (as are the others), & the more he attempts to justify his omissions, the deeper he digs the hole.
"...fail to report gifts..." --- actually, it should be phrased as failure to report *grifts*, as grifting seems to occupy Justice Thomas' "free time" when he's not cosplaying during the Court's terms. He is unconscionably shameless, and doesn't at all care who knows it.
Justice Thomas is no longer serving in good behavior (or behaviour for that matter). He should resign. We cannot -- Senator Durbin should with respect stop blathering about it on Twitter/X -- rely on Chief Justice Roberts and the justices to self-regulate. Fix the Court lists various things the justices have done that are questionable. Thomas is just a blatant red flag. He taints the Court as a whole.
I appreciate the Senate investigating the matter. Keep it up.
In matters of mere ethics (not strict legality), only the person who has a conflict of interest can properly manage it. Absent any code of ethics, a sense of shame might enforce due consequences for unethical behavior. But in the absence (or defiance) of all shame, society must simply suffer the consequences of having seated unethical public officials. For such an official to be a sitting Supreme Court Justice is really quite stunning.
It appears that Justice Thomas and his wife believe they are above the law. As part of the highest court in the land, Thomas' behavior should be above reproach. Instead, he has shamelessly embroiled himself in all manner of shady financial dealings.
In addition, he has failed to recuse himself from court matters involving very wealthy men who have showered him and his wife with vacations, yacht cruises, plane rides and other gifts.
The justice has "close friends" who just happen to be billionaires. They have given him expensive gifts but he has not, to the best of my knowledge, never given any of them a single gift in return. Not for a birthday, anniversary, Christmas or any other occasion. They don't exchange gifts.
Ginni, his wife, has had a few fishy dealings herself. Even worse, she was an avid supporter of the attempted coup against our government.
The two of them are horrible people and should be thrown in jail.
For me, the only remaining question is whether he committed a crime such as tax evasion. There are more than ample grounds to appoint a Special Counsel á là Hunter.
PS did his lender/benefactor report the interest payments as income, or file a gift tax return?
Thomas’s claims over the years of inadvertence or failure to understand the reporting rules, are risible. He has been a liar since his confirmation hearing.
While Justice Thomas’ behavior is reprehensible some of his actions could be curbed by age limits and term limits. It would also help if SCOTUS were expanded to encompass all 13 of its districts. This would decrease any one justice’s negative effect on the court. Forcing them to uphold ethics seems like a nearly impossible feat given the lack of consequences for breaching it, but we can make it more difficult to allow them to stay in power.
To be clear, I write about these issues constantly, and these Sunday night “SCOTUS thoughts” posts are often just zooming in on one issue. I’ve said repeatedly that I think even congressionally imposed ethics rules are insufficient. The point here at the conclusion was just that — even for the weakest possible response, the court adopting its own code of ethics — Thomas is clearly going to stand in the way of any substantive restrictions given his current behavior.
That said, none of your proposals are going to be enacted in this Congress, so, I think continued outside pressure — media, lawmakers, other officials, and the broader public — treating the court skeptically like any other government body is the best immediate path.
Well, a huge media storm - at least by the standards of the '60s - convinced Justice Abe Fortas to pack up his cloak and resign...Thomas? He's beyond shame, unfortunately, and only his colleagues have the influence to nudge him toward doing the right thing...that is, if they still respect the institution.
Thomas is playing a game of some sort. I think his lawyer is part of it. They are trying to confuse things and when we try to pin Thomas down, suddenly we’ll be the bad guys.
Very cool that paying interest on a loan counts as full repayment to a SCOTUS justice. I'm looking forward to what this means he'll vote in any further student loan cases.
Shame on Justice Thomas, who feels that he is above the law. (And shame on his wife Gini, who blatantly encouraged the insurrection of January 6th.) Justice Thomas is not the only member of the Supreme Court to fail to report “gifts”, but he is unapologetic (as are the others), & the more he attempts to justify his omissions, the deeper he digs the hole.
I'm not sure how apologetic Justice Alito is to the degree he has violated ethics. But, if anyone can make him look good, it's Justice Thomas.
"...fail to report gifts..." --- actually, it should be phrased as failure to report *grifts*, as grifting seems to occupy Justice Thomas' "free time" when he's not cosplaying during the Court's terms. He is unconscionably shameless, and doesn't at all care who knows it.
He has no shame.
Justice Thomas is no longer serving in good behavior (or behaviour for that matter). He should resign. We cannot -- Senator Durbin should with respect stop blathering about it on Twitter/X -- rely on Chief Justice Roberts and the justices to self-regulate. Fix the Court lists various things the justices have done that are questionable. Thomas is just a blatant red flag. He taints the Court as a whole.
I appreciate the Senate investigating the matter. Keep it up.
Just another peg in the board
of why Dems need to retake the House and command the Senate. Then let the people
demand for changes to the
Supreme Court that must be
upheld. Government of the
people, by the people,
for the people. We have to
pay more attention after we
vote. They all work for us, or
are supposed to.
The Grifters Thomas aren’t just guilty of tax evasion—they were both involved in the planning and funding of the Jan 6 coup attempt—TREASON.
Who are we, as Americans, to tolerate this crap?
In matters of mere ethics (not strict legality), only the person who has a conflict of interest can properly manage it. Absent any code of ethics, a sense of shame might enforce due consequences for unethical behavior. But in the absence (or defiance) of all shame, society must simply suffer the consequences of having seated unethical public officials. For such an official to be a sitting Supreme Court Justice is really quite stunning.
It appears that Justice Thomas and his wife believe they are above the law. As part of the highest court in the land, Thomas' behavior should be above reproach. Instead, he has shamelessly embroiled himself in all manner of shady financial dealings.
In addition, he has failed to recuse himself from court matters involving very wealthy men who have showered him and his wife with vacations, yacht cruises, plane rides and other gifts.
The justice has "close friends" who just happen to be billionaires. They have given him expensive gifts but he has not, to the best of my knowledge, never given any of them a single gift in return. Not for a birthday, anniversary, Christmas or any other occasion. They don't exchange gifts.
Ginni, his wife, has had a few fishy dealings herself. Even worse, she was an avid supporter of the attempted coup against our government.
The two of them are horrible people and should be thrown in jail.
For me, the only remaining question is whether he committed a crime such as tax evasion. There are more than ample grounds to appoint a Special Counsel á là Hunter.
PS did his lender/benefactor report the interest payments as income, or file a gift tax return?
Thomas’s claims over the years of inadvertence or failure to understand the reporting rules, are risible. He has been a liar since his confirmation hearing.
While Justice Thomas’ behavior is reprehensible some of his actions could be curbed by age limits and term limits. It would also help if SCOTUS were expanded to encompass all 13 of its districts. This would decrease any one justice’s negative effect on the court. Forcing them to uphold ethics seems like a nearly impossible feat given the lack of consequences for breaching it, but we can make it more difficult to allow them to stay in power.
To be clear, I write about these issues constantly, and these Sunday night “SCOTUS thoughts” posts are often just zooming in on one issue. I’ve said repeatedly that I think even congressionally imposed ethics rules are insufficient. The point here at the conclusion was just that — even for the weakest possible response, the court adopting its own code of ethics — Thomas is clearly going to stand in the way of any substantive restrictions given his current behavior.
That said, none of your proposals are going to be enacted in this Congress, so, I think continued outside pressure — media, lawmakers, other officials, and the broader public — treating the court skeptically like any other government body is the best immediate path.
Here’s an earlier, more broad column I wrote on where I’m at: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/supreme-court-think-s-special-s-not-rcna68567
Well, a huge media storm - at least by the standards of the '60s - convinced Justice Abe Fortas to pack up his cloak and resign...Thomas? He's beyond shame, unfortunately, and only his colleagues have the influence to nudge him toward doing the right thing...that is, if they still respect the institution.
Thomas is playing a game of some sort. I think his lawyer is part of it. They are trying to confuse things and when we try to pin Thomas down, suddenly we’ll be the bad guys.
Not lawyer, lender.