Clarence Thomas - Approach To Oral Arguments

Approach To Oral Arguments

Thomas is well known for his reticence during oral argument. As of March 20, 2012 (2012 -03-20), he had not asked a question from the bench in 6 years. He has given many reasons for his silence, including self-consciousness about how he speaks, a preference for listening to those arguing the case, and difficulty getting in a word. In 2000, he told a group of high school students that "if you wait long enough, someone will ask your question." In November 2007, he told an audience at Hillsdale College: "My colleagues should shut up!" He later explained, "I don't think that for judging, and for what we are doing, all those questions are necessary." Thomas's speaking and listening habits may have also been influenced by his Gullah upbringing, during which time his English was relatively unpolished.

According to Amber Porter of ABC News, one of the most notable examples of a rare instance in which Thomas asked a question was in 2002, during oral arguments for Virginia v. Black, when he expressed concern to Michael Dreeben, who had been speaking on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice, that he was "actually understating the symbolism...and the effect of...the burning cross" and its use as a symbol of the "reign of terror" of "100 years of lynching and activity in the South by the Knights of Camellia...and the Ku Klux Klan".

Thomas is not the first quiet justice. In the 1970s and 1980s, William J. Brennan, Thurgood Marshall, and Harry Blackmun were likewise generally quiet. However, Thomas's silence stood out in the 1990s as the other eight justices engaged in active questioning.