So maybe that’s where all of the wacky rhetoric comes from.
A court sketch has recently been released showing SCOTUS in session, with Justice Kennedy and Chief Justice Roberts looking thoughtful and interested. And next to them, Justice Thomas is supposed to be looking thoughtful and interested too. But instead he is sleeping.
If you can’t see it right away, it is because Justice Clarence Thomas is slouched a-l-l the way down in his chair and his head is barely visible. It is not 100 percent possible to know whether or not our good friend Justice Thomas was sawing logs, but his eyes are closed and his face looks relaxed. Like, very relaxed. Even more relaxed than he usually looks when he’s working on taking rights away from vulnerable people.
look at this drawing from SCOTUS oral arguments yesterday pic.twitter.com/eSTR9IiEfN
— sarah jeong (@sarahjeong) April 22, 2016
Now, Justice Thomas is not known for speaking a lot– he recently broke a decade-long silence to ask whether folks convicted of domestic violence should have a right to own guns. Really? That was what we’ve all been waiting for? Before that, the last time he asked a question was in 2006.
Justice Thomas also offered a dissenting opinion in the precedent-setting Obergefell v Hodges case for marriage equality. Perhaps one of the reasons that he happily sleeps during open court is because his unconscious opinions have the same value as his waking thoughts.
Among other nonsense, Justice Thomas argued against marriage equality because LGBT folks
“Have been able to travel freely around the country, making their homes where they please. Far from being incarcerated or physically restrained, petitioners have been left alone to order their lives as they see fit.”
Yes, he was literally arguing that, because gay people are no longer sent to jail or burned at the stake, his job is done and we can all go home. He also made some majorly ignorant statements about slavery, and has spoken out in favor of gerrymandering districts to disenfranchise minority voters.
I don’t know about you, but I say that Justice Thomas should sleep more in court. At least then we won’t have to suffer his oppressive and nonsensical opinions.
