Twenty Years of Justice Thomas

WSJ Opinion ^ | OCTOBER 21, 2011, 7:12 P.M. ET | JOHN YOO

[MontaniSemperLiberi]

This weekend marks the 20th anniversary of Clarence Thomas's appointment to the Supreme Court. In his first two decades on the bench, Justice Thomas has established himself as the original Constitution's greatest defender against elite efforts at social engineering. His stances for limited government and individual freedom make him the left's lightning rod and the tea party's intellectual godfather. And he is only halfway through the 40 years he may sit on the high court.

Justice Thomas's two decades on the bench show the simple power of ideas over the pettiness of our politics. Media and academic elites have spent the last 20 years trying to marginalize him by drawing a portrait of a man stung by his confirmation, angry at his rejection by the civil rights community, and a blind follower of fellow conservatives. But Justice Thomas has broken through this partisan fog to convince the court to adopt many of his positions, and to become a beacon to the grass-roots movement to restrain government spending and reduce the size of the welfare state.

[MontaniSemperLiberi]

Mr. Yoo, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and an American Enterprise Institute scholar, is co-editor of the recently released "Confronting Terror" (Encounter 2011). He was a law clerk for Justice Thomas from 1994-1995.

[FatherofFive]

Anyone who voted to confirm Sotamanure and Kagan must be defeated.

[octex]

Thanks for the posting, MSL.

There are still so many people who don’t recognize how Justice Thomas has contributed to the rights of Americans by his adherence to the US Constitution. ....If we succeed in electing a Conservative majority Congress and President in 2012, I hope that a couple of more Constitutionalists are appointed to the SCOTUS to replace a couple of liberal socialists who ignore the Constitution.

[Servant of the Cross]

Outstanding reflections on an outstanding man and Supreme Court Justice.

Supreme Thomas and The Clarence Thomas Nomination, 20 Years Later were two additional threads with reflections on the great tenure and fruits of Justice Thomas' Constitutional jurisprudence.

[QBFimi]

>> Sotamanure

;o)

[DJ MacWoW]

Where Would You Go Without FR?

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[onedoug]

And not one ¨Justice¨ has lifted a finger against the Constitutional abhorrence of Barry Soetoro´s so-called presidency.