Nominated by George Bush
Clarence Thomas
Associate Justice since Oct 23, 1991
This is not an official Supreme Court website.
Copyright © 2026 PLEJ LLC. All rights reserved.
This is not an official Supreme Court website.
Copyright © 2026 PLEJ LLC. All rights reserved.
Nominated by George Bush
Associate Justice since Oct 23, 1991
Born
Jun 23, 1948
Birthplace
the Pinpoint community near Savannah, Georgia
Took seat
Oct 23, 1991
Authored opinions
109
Majority votes
107
Recusals
2
Biography
was born in the Pinpoint community near Savannah, Georgia on June 23, 1948. He attended Conception Seminary from 1967-1968 and received an A.B., cum laude, from College of the Holy Cross in 1971 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1974. He was admitted to law practice in Missouri in 1974, and served as an Assistant Attorney General of Missouri, 1974-1977; an attorney with the Monsanto Company, 1977-1979; and Legislative Assistant to Senator John Danforth, 1979-1981. From 1981–1982 he served as Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, and as Chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 1982-1990. From 1990–1991, he served as a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. President Bush nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and he took his seat October 23, 1991. He married Virginia Lamp on May 30, 1987 and has one child, Jamal Adeen by a previous marriage.
Oral argument analytics
Speaking time
1h 9m
October Term 2025 · Rank #9
Questions asked
333
6.7/case · 50 cases
Speaking pace
131 wpm
8,969 total words
Engagement
99
interruptions · 0 first questioner
Term-by-term
| Term | Time | Questions | WPM | Cases | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October Term 2025 | 1h 9m | 333 | 131 | 50 | #9 |
| October Term 2024 | 1h 23m | 388 | 134 | 61 | #9 |
Recent oral argument activity
“If you can waive constitutional rights or statutory rights, why can't you waive these contractually rights that are statutory here?”
Authored opinions
Internet service provider Cox Communications neither induced its users’ infringement of copyrighted works nor provided a service tailored to infringement, and accordingly Cox is not contributorily liable for the infringement of Sony’s copyrights.
Recusals
Recent votes
“Was there ever any federal involvement during the ICC era with intrastate shipping?”
“Are we to treat the assertion of sovereignty the same here as we did in Kirtz?”
“Did trial counsel make those arguments?”
“You removed the case against the governor to federal court.”
“what is the final destination for the product in this case?”
The United States retains sovereign immunity for claims arising out of the intentional nondelivery of mail because both “miscarriage” and “loss” of mail under the Federal Tort Claims Act’s postal exception, 28 U. S. C. §2680(b), can occur as a result of the Postal Service’s intentional failure to deliver the mail.
Financial disclosures
Annual financial disclosure reports covering gifts, travel reimbursements, investments, and liabilities (2021–2024). Sort any column and filter by year to explore the data.
Gifts
| 2023 | Terrence and Barbara Giroux | Two photo albums | $2,000.00 | View |
Travel & reimbursements
| 2021 | University of Notre Dame | 9/15/2021 - 9/17/2021 | Notre Dame, IN | Teaching and Guest Lecturer | Transportation, meals, and lodging | View |
Investments & trusts
Year
Transaction
Showing 65 of 65 rows
| 2024 | MONY (Mutual of New York) Universal Life Insurance Policy Dividend | $2.5K–$5K | $100.0K–$250K | — | View |
| 2024 | Equitable Variable Universal Life Policy (H) | — | — | — | View |
| 2024 | S&P 500 Index account Dividend | $5.0K–$15K | $50.0K–$100K | — | View |
| 2024 | Guaranteed account MONY (Mutual of New York) Interest | $1.0K–$2.5K | $15.0K–$50K | — | View |
| 2024 | MONY (Mutual of New York) Variable Life Policy (H) (Y) - See Part VIII | — | — | — | View |
| 2024 | EQ/LGCAP GROWTG MGD Dividend | Up to $1K | Up to $15K | — | View |
| 2024 | EQ/LOOMIS SAYLES GR Dividend | Up to $1K | Up to $15K | — | View |
| 2024 | 1290 VT EQUITY INCOME Dividend | Up to $1K | Up to $15K | — | View |
| 2024 | 1290 VT GAMCO SMALL CO VAL Dividend | Up to $1K | Up to $15K | — | View |
| 2024 | EQ/CAPITAL GROUP RSRCH Dividend | Up to $1K | Up to $15K | — | View |
| 2024 | Wells Fargo IRA CD Interest | Up to $1K | Up to $15K | — | View |
| 2024 | Ginger Holdings, LLC, Douglas County NE Rent | $50.0K–$100K | $1.0M–$5M | — | View |
| 2024 | Congressional Federal Credit Union (Cash Accounts) Interest | Up to $1K | $100.0K–$250K | — | View |
| 2024 | Liberty Consulting, Inc. | — | $50.0K–$100K | — | View |
| 2024 | Vanguard IRA (H) | — | — | — | View |
| 2024 | —VANGUARD FEDERAL MONEY MARKET FUND Dividend | $5.0K–$15K | $100.0K–$250K | Buy02/20/24$15.0K–$50K | View |
| 2024 | —VANGUARD FEDERAL MONEY MARKET FUND Dividend | $5.0K–$15K | $100.0K–$250K | Buy09/30/24$15.0K–$50K | View |
| 2024 | —VANGUARD EMERGING MARKETS STOCK INDEX ADMIRAL CL (VEMAX) Dividend | Up to $1K | $15.0K–$50K | — | View |
| 2024 | —VANGUARD 500 INDEX ADMIRAL CL (VFIAX) Dividend | $1.0K–$2.5K | $100.0K–$250K | — | View |
| 2024 | —VANGUARD HEALTHCARE INVESTOR CL (VGHCX) Dividend | Up to $1K | $15.0K–$50K | — | View |
| 2024 | —VANGUARD SMALL CAP VALUE INDEX ADMIRAL CL (VSIAX) Dividend | $1.0K–$2.5K | $50.0K–$100K | — | View |
| 2024 | —VANGUARD TOTAL INTL STOCK INDEX ADMIRAL CL (VTIAX) Dividend | Up to $1K | $15.0K–$50K | — | View |
| 2024 | —VANGUARD VALUE INDEX ADMIRAL CL (VVIAX) Dividend | $1.0K–$2.5K | $50.0K–$100K | — | View |
| 2024 | —VANGUARD WELLINGTON ADMIRAL CL (VWENX) Dividend | $1.0K–$2.5K | $50.0K–$100K | — | View |
| 2024 | CENTERSTATE BANK WINTER HAVEN FL CD FDIC#33555 CPN 1.000% DUE 3/31/25 Interest | Up to $1K | $50.0K–$100K | — | View |
Non-investment income
Year
Filer
Showing 7 of 7 rows
| 2024 | Self | NONE (No reportable non-investment income.) | — | View |
| 2024 | Spouse | Liberty Consulting, Inc. - salary and benefits | — | View |
| 2023 | Self | NONE (No reportable non-investment income.) | — | View |
| 2023 | Spouse | Liberty Consulting, Inc. - salary and benefits | — | View |
| 2021 | Self | George Washington University School of Law - teaching | $10,000.00 | View |
| 2021 | Self | University of Notre Dame | $19,595.00 | View |
| 2021 | Spouse | Liberty Consulting, Inc. - salary and benefits | — | View |
Positions held outside the Court
Agreements & arrangements
No reportable agreements
Liabilities
No reportable liabilities
Additional information
2024
2024: Part VII, Line 5: Life insurance policy was inadvertently omitted from prior reports during the covered period. The policy was originally purchased in July 2001 from the Mutual of New York (MONY). MONY is a subsidiary of the Equitable Life Insurance Company and the policy was serviced by Protective Life Insurance Company. The omission was inadvertent and unintentional as filer was not the insured or owner of the policy and confusion arose on whether the policy needed to be disclosed. Filer is disclosing the policy on this report to cover past reports for the covered period rather than amending past reports because filer no longer has documentation for each year for the covered period. Filer terminated the policy in May 2025.
2023
During the preparation and filing of this report, filer sought and received guidance from his accountant and ethics counsel. Consistent with the review of prior filings that the filer began last year, report for calendar year 2019 is hereby amended to include the following entries under the reimbursement section, which was inadvertently omitted at the time of filing: Source: Harlan & Kathy Crow Dates: July 12, 2019 Location: Bali, Indonesia Purpose: Guests of Source Items Paid or Provided: Food and Lodging at Hotel Source: Harlan Crow Dates: July 18-21, 2019 Location: Monte Rio, CA Purpose: Guest of Source Items Paid or Provided: Food and Lodging at Private Club Part VII, lines 3 and 4 - Asset description changed to reflect the allocation during the covered period as detailed by the insurance agent.
Language
Words used most frequently across oral arguments and opinions.
Term
Source