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Have you ever read anything he's written while on the court?

ceejayoz 11y ago
It is nonetheless interesting that shortly after Scalia's death Thomas starts asking questions after a ten year silence. It would certainly seem to indicate he feels Scalia covered his questions in the past.
- avs733 11y ago
  "correlation does not imply causation, but it does waggle its eyebrows suggestively and gesture furtively while mouthing 'look over there' "[1] [1] https://xkcd.com/552/ https://xkcd.com/552/
vannevar 11y ago
If you can find a majority opinion he's written, it's likely to consist heavily of other people's words, albeit not necessarily Scalia's: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/28/us/justice-clarence-thomas-rulings-studies.html http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/28/us/justice-clarence-thomas...
- strlen 11y ago
  While Scalia was an excellent writer (yet, not quite as clear as Richard Posner or Alex Kozinski), I think it's unfair to dismiss Thomas. Personally, I found his dissent in Gonzales v. Raich quite interesting and principled: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-1454.ZD1.html https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-1454.ZD1.html Thomas' Concurrence in McDonald vs. Chicago is also very interesting, as it takes a very different approach to 14th amendment incorporation -- in a relatively unique situation where a judge had to incorporate a BoR amendment that has not been incorporated against the state/local government before -- from the approach that used in nearly all the major civil rights/liberties related decisions over the last 75 years: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/08-1521.ZC1.html https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/08-1521.ZC1.html Personally, I find the cases where he disagrees with Scalia, or concurs with an Alito/Scalia majority opinion to be quite illuminating.
  - vannevar 11y ago
    I wouldn't dismiss him, no. But everything is relative, and personally I find his opinions to be pedestrian compared to his other conservative colleagues. Judging by the relative infrequency of his majority opinions, I gather they feel similarly.
obrero 11y ago
> Have you ever read anything his law clerks wrote for him while on the court? (fixed)

It is nonetheless interesting that shortly after Scalia's death Thomas starts asking questions after a ten year silence. It would certainly seem to indicate he feels Scalia covered his questions in the past.

avs733 11y ago
"correlation does not imply causation, but it does waggle its eyebrows suggestively and gesture furtively while mouthing 'look over there' "[1] [1] https://xkcd.com/552/ https://xkcd.com/552/

vannevar 11y ago

If you can find a majority opinion he's written, it's likely to consist heavily of other people's words, albeit not necessarily Scalia's: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/28/us/justice-clarence-thomas-rulings-studies.html http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/28/us/justice-clarence-thomas...

strlen 11y ago
While Scalia was an excellent writer (yet, not quite as clear as Richard Posner or Alex Kozinski), I think it's unfair to dismiss Thomas. Personally, I found his dissent in Gonzales v. Raich quite interesting and principled: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-1454.ZD1.html https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-1454.ZD1.html Thomas' Concurrence in McDonald vs. Chicago is also very interesting, as it takes a very different approach to 14th amendment incorporation -- in a relatively unique situation where a judge had to incorporate a BoR amendment that has not been incorporated against the state/local government before -- from the approach that used in nearly all the major civil rights/liberties related decisions over the last 75 years: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/08-1521.ZC1.html https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/08-1521.ZC1.html Personally, I find the cases where he disagrees with Scalia, or concurs with an Alito/Scalia majority opinion to be quite illuminating.
- vannevar 11y ago
  I wouldn't dismiss him, no. But everything is relative, and personally I find his opinions to be pedestrian compared to his other conservative colleagues. Judging by the relative infrequency of his majority opinions, I gather they feel similarly.

obrero 11y ago

> Have you ever read anything his law clerks wrote for him while on the court? (fixed)