Clarence Thomas biography

Synopsis

Early Years

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas comes from a humble background. He knew what it was like to be cold and to be hungry. He grew up in the small African-American community of Pin Point, Georgia, with his older sister Emma Mae and younger brother Myers Lee. His father disappeared early on in his life, and the family divided even further when he was nine years old. Struggling financially, his mother sent him and his brother to live with her father and stepmother in nearby Savannah.

Now a conservative and sometimes controversial justice, Thomas first had other ambitions. His grandfather encouraged him to pursue a religious life. During high school, Thomas decided to transfer to St. John Vianney Minor Seminary, a first step to becoming a Catholic priest. He graduated in 1967 and then continued to his studies after Immaculate Conception Seminary in Missouri.

Legal Career

The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 proved to be a turning point for Thomas. He left the seminary after overhearing a fellow student making fun of King's death. Moving north, Thomas went to Holy Cross College, in Massachusetts, where he studied English. He became active in many social causes there, including protesting the Vietnam War and campaigning for civil rights. Thomas also helped establish the Black Student Union there. After college, he went to Yale University Law School where his views started to become more conservative.

Thomas returned to the South to work as an assistant to Missouri Attorney General John Danforth after earning his degree. After several years as a lawyer for the agricultural giant Mansanto, He later moved to Washington where he eventually received several appointments from President Ronald Reagan. His most prominent post was as the chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 1982. Another president, George Bush, gave Thomas his first and only judgeship, nominating him to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Supreme Court Justice

In 1991, President George Bush tapped Thomas to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Thorgood Marshall, the first African-American to serve on the court. The two men could not have been more different. Marshall was widely known as a liberal jurist and for his civil rights work before taking the bench. Critics, on the other hand, attacked Thomas for his conservative views. Some also thought that he had too little experience as a judge.

During his confirmation hearings, Thomas remained quiet on several key issues, including abortion rights. It was an allegation of sexual harassment that almost cost him the post. One of his former aides at the EEOC, Anita Hill, came forward and testified at the hearings that he had sexually harassed her during the time the two worked together. She claimed that he asked her to go out with him, discussed pornography with her, and made inappropriate remarks about her body. While the nation watched Hill's testimony with great interest, the committee decided that there was not enough evidence to prove her claims. Thomas was approved by the Senate by a very small margin, a 52-48 vote.

Since his appointment in 1991, Thomas has often sided with his fellow conservatives on the court, especially Justice Antonin Scalia. He has opposed decisions in favor of affirmative action, such as the 2003 ruling that continued the program at the University of Michigan's law school. While he usually declines interviews, Thomas also clearly supports the idea of a very limited federal government in his opinions and speeches. He finally decided to talk about himself in 2007 memoir My Grandfather's Son.

Personal Life

When on not serving on the court, Thomas likes to read and even watch television from time to time. He is reportedly a sports fan and a supporter of the Dallas Cowboys. Also a car enthusiast, Thomas owns a Corvette and likes to watch NASCAR races.

Thomas is married to Virginia Lamp. The couple adopted his grandnephew Mark in 1997. Thomas also has a son, Jamal, from his first marriage to Kathy Ambush.

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