Affordable Health Care Law under review by SCOTUS

[Lucky]

Here's what I don't understand...why hasn't Justice Thomas asked a question in oral argument in over six years?

[senorsheep]

Here's what I don't understand...why hasn't Justice Thomas asked a question in oral argument in over six years?

Here's his answer:

Linky - http://www.usatoday.com/news/washing...mas22_ST_N.htm

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Thomas, 62, has given many explanations through the years for his unwillingness to speak up during the hour-long sessions that supplement the written briefs submitted in a case.

"I had grown up speaking a kind of dialect," Thomas, who was born in Pin Point, Ga., and raised by his grandparents in nearby Savannah, told a group of students in 2000. Classmates "used to make fun of us. ... I just started developing the habit of listening. ... I didn't ask questions in college or law school. I could learn better just listening."

More recently, Thomas said he thought lawyers should be able to do more of the talking during the hour-long sessions, to better explain their legal positions.

"I think there are far too many questions," he said in a 2009 interview with C-SPAN. "Some members of the court like that interaction. ... I prefer to listen and think it through more quietly."

Referring implicitly to how active his eight colleagues are in their questioning, Thomas said, "I think you should allow people to complete their answers and their thought and to continue their conversation. I find that coherence that you get from a conversation far more helpful than the rapid-fire questions. I don't see how you can learn a whole lot when there are 50 questions in an hour."

[Lucky]

That's a pretty weak answer, in my opinion. The issue is not whether there should be 50 questions in an hour, but whether there should be at least one in six years.

By the time oral argument comes along, the justices know the briefs inside and out. Having the attorneys rehash their briefs is not particularly informative. The questions by appellate judges pick up where the briefs leave off and challenge the attorneys to support any weak spots in their cases. And every case has some weak spots.

I've argued a number of cases to appellate courts, most in state courts, one in federal court. Not all the judges ask questions every time, but all the judges ask questions sometimes.

There's a more believable reason out there than "I like to listen".

[senorsheep]

There's a more believable reason out there than "I like to listen".

Sounds juicy. Let's hear it!

[Roto Rooter]

He said he prefers the oral argument when Anita Hill is around.

[Lucky]

Sounds juicy. Let's hear it!

Dunno. I was hoping someone had an idea.

[Fresno Bob]

Here's what I don't understand...why hasn't Justice Thomas asked a question in oral argument in over six years?

because Scalia hasn't given him permission yet

[Erik]

It sounds like he's self-conscious about public speaking. The confirmation hearing probably didn't help.

[Lucky]

It sounds like he's self-conscious about public speaking. The confirmation hearing probably didn't help.

Maybe so. It seems that having one of the most powerful positions in the world would help someone get past that, but things like that can stay with a person.

[Judge Jude]

Thomas is an unusual judge, as you know.
He parses the original language from the Constitution and old, old laws at other times. Tries to make sure that the modern meaning of a word is what it meant back then.

I wouldn't want to have more than one of him on the court, conservative or liberal, but I think with nine justices it's ok if "only" eight ask questions. He's also usually in tune with Scalia, who is pretty verbose when he wants to be.

[Fresno Bob]

He's also usually in tune with Scalia, who is pretty verbose when he wants to be.

We often refer to Justice Thomas as "Justice Renfield" in our house

[Lucky]

Thomas is an unusual judge, as you know.
He parses the original language from the Constitution and old, old laws at other times. Tries to make sure that the modern meaning of a word is what it meant back then.

I wouldn't want to have more than one of him on the court, conservative or liberal, but I think with nine justices it's ok if "only" eight ask questions. He's also usually in tune with Scalia, who is pretty verbose when he wants to be.

As a judge, I cannot imagine that over a six year period there wouldn't be a single question I thought was critically important and wasn't asked by the other eight justices. I've always thought his judicial philosophy was questionable, but it's hard to believe that he's not intellectually curious enough to have a question to ask. I think maybe Eric has it figured out, that it's more of a psychological reluctance than anything else. I wonder what type of "dialect" he is referring to, that made him uncomfortable.

[Bob Kohm]

He is a reprehensible human being, so his silence is probably for the best. The fact that he sits in Thurgood Marshall's seat is one of the saddest ironies in American government. While I enjoy not hearing the sound of his self righteous, ill informed voice tremendously, let's cut through the bullsh1t about dialects and "psychological" reluctance-- he's a simpering fool who simply does what he's told to do by those whom he worships and is perhaps the worst Justice in the Court's history. Not that I have strong feelings about Mr. Justice Thomas or anything.

[B-Fly]

He has given a fair number of public speeches and interviews at this point, so I don't think it's an embarrassment about his dialect or a fear of public speaking. I also had the opportunity to meet him twice when he hosted me and some of my fellow law firm summer associates back in the late 1990's, and he was a perfectly engaging and intelligent contemporaneous speaker. He is, however, stubborn, and he does hold and nurse grudges forever. For that reason, I suspect the decision not to question from the bench stems from a grudge against the media and that every media criticism over the years about him not asking questions from the bench has led him to dig in his heels more firmly.

[senorsheep]

It's gotta be exhausting, suppressing one's innate reprehensibility in order to maintain a facade of engagagement. Maybe he's too tired to ask questions.