FIRST!!!

Second. (first place loser).

and the Nj bar exam results are out!

It's good to see john rappaport getting work. I was really worried when they cancelled "The War At Home."

Certainly Thomas, J. is bitter. But am I correct in my perception that Justice Thomas is on the dumb side? (I realize there is dumb and then there is SCOTUS dumb.)

During the confirmation hearings he refrained from any display of intellect and was not especially articulate.

So, is the guy stupid? Is that why he doesn’t ask questions at oral argument? Is he being Propped up by his clerks?

Or am I just being racist?

really white girls with slightly darker guys!

I have watched a number of interviews of Thomas recently, in connection with his book -- both on C-Span, PBS, and the networks. Although he is not my favorite justice, and I disagree with him on many things, I found him to be VERY articulate and engaging.

Nah, he's stupid. Read "The Nine."

Who gives a shit? There are other blogs for people who get off on supreme court clerk crap. This blog is about scandals and pay raises.

Looks like Thomas needs a Regent alum to round it out.

The SCOTUS news is the least interesting aspect of this blog, with perhaps the exception of LEWW. Can you run a parallel site with all of the boring stuff omitted?

10:25 - You're right why would I want to watch the justice speak and interact for myself when I can read what one liberal anti-Thomas SCOTUS watcher who wrote a book has to think about him. It's stupid to make decisions for myself based on my own observations when I can have someone else do it for me.

You're not racist, just close-minded. Like 10:24, I saw his interviews and thought he was very articulate. I'm sick of hearing about Thomas being stupid because he doesn't ask questions at argument. I completely disagree with his reasons for this, but I don't think his view on that issue makes him stupid. It just means he has a different perspective than I do.

As for confirmation hearings, those things are bogus. It's such a circus. No nominee ever says anything substantive. They just quote the law and say that they can't answer hypotheticals.

I'd suggest that maybe you should reconsider your view of him based on some real evidence.

I don't think Thomas is stupid because he fails to ask questions at oral argument.

I think he is stupid because I have read his opinions.

"Looks like Thomas needs a Regent alum to round it out."

GWU is looking very prestigious these days (at least vis-a-vis Thomas OT08 clerk predigree)

BREAKING NEWS: CIOLLI DROPPED FROM AUTOADMIT SUIT!!!

The Supreme Court stuff and LEWW are my fave two features of ATL (although I also love a good scandal)... Lots of the readers here are from A3G which was way more about that kind of stuff and way less about exactly who is getting bonuses and perks from where.

While I'm probably the last person to defend Justice Thomas, can we please get beyond questioning his intellect? I don't care how much affirmative action may have played in his success; you don't get to be on the Supreme Court by not being intelligent. While I disagree with the overwhelming majority of his views, I can't say they're not well reasoned (they're just wrong). Also, notice that he's the only Justice that doesn't depend on law clerks from top-tier law schools. Perhaps, that speaks to his confidence in his own abilities.

I follow vault through space and time.

"It's good to see john rappaport getting work. I was really worried when they cancelled "The War At Home.""

that joke would have been funnier had you gotten michael rappaport's name correct.

Just as there are stratifies employed by the illiterate to mask the fact they cannot read, there are ways to hide that one is intellectually inferior.

One way to do that would be to refrain from engaging in debate at oral argument.

Are any present or former SCOTUS clerks out there who can say whether Thomas, J. opens his yap at the conferences?

Still think it's bogus that SDO gets a law clerk. Does this person get paid by the government to write her speeches that she gets paid to give? What law could she possibly be researching unless SDO makes a guest appearance on the People's Court.

"Refraining from debate" at oral argument as one of the Supremes (10:58) seems like a smart idea for lots of reasons. Leave the debate to the lawyers, and instead ask questions.

Do you think I can get a SCOTUS clerkship?

Who am I kidding, I'd take a job in the mail room.

My life is pathetic.

NPR parody of SCOTUS, including Thomas, J:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14869651

1059,

SDO still sits on circuit panels. And don't even attempt to make us believe that you wouldn't take the SDO clerkship if it were offered to you.

"Just as there are stratifies employed by the illiterate "

The word you're feebly grasping for is "strategies," moron.

"Are any present or former SCOTUS clerks out there who can say whether Thomas, J. opens his yap at the conferences? "

Unlikely, since clerks don't participate in the conferences.

"The Supreme Court stuff and LEWW are my fave two features of ATL (although I also love a good scandal)... Lots of the readers here are from A3G which was way more about that kind of stuff and way less about exactly who is getting bonuses and perks from where."

Yeah, but Lat's advertisers prefer that he cater to people with money. You public service pinkos don't buy eneough brooks brothers no-iron shirts and lasik surgeries.

11:13 - Hell yeah I would take the clerkship, but it's beside the point that it's an incredible waste. Why should she sit on Circuit panels? She's retired. When you retire, the govt stops paying you, except if you are a retired SCOTUS Justice. How many cases did she sit on this year?

The SDO clerk serves as a fifth clerk for another justice and does typical SCOTUS clerk work for that other justice

Claire actually is clerking for Sentelle now.

There is basically gender parity in that list, which is rare. I count 11 women and 13 men.

Please stop it with this boring s--- and give me the update on the PartyPants lawsuit

I still think he's stupid.

Go Claire Evans!

Go Claire Evans!

"It's good to see john rappaport getting work. I was really worried when they cancelled "The War At Home.""

that joke would have been funnier had you gotten michael rappaport's name correct."

I'm pretty sure that *was* the joke.

The release of Justice Blackmun's papers showed Justice Thomas to be a full participant in the Court's work. There is no basis for continuing to assert the contrary. Some also suggested that Thurgood Marshall was propped up by his law clerks and Justice Brennan - they were wrong, too. Seems to be a racial thing in both instances.

Wow--Chicago, still getting blanked. So much for that "nearly the highest per capita" number.

I recently talked to a former Thomas clerk about his silence at oral arguments. He claims that Thomas doesn't asks questions because he believes that counsel should be allowed to use their time to present an oral argument and not to be bombarded by strained hypotheticals or bullied around by the justices. His is a silent protest.

sorry, "ask questions"

The SCOTUS news is the only reason I visit this blog. I don't care at all about bonuses are silly scandals involving totally irrelevant judges.

I think it's funny that people who are for affirmative action always hint that Thomas is where he is because of affirmative action. CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT THIS IS THE VERY REASON WHY WE SHOULD GET RID OF IT? Imagine being a successful minority and everyone assuming that you're successful because of your skin color. That's sad.

If the point is to achieve a society where one's race doesn't matter (that is the point, isn't it?), then why do you think that we should focus on race? How can taking race into account achieve racial parity? absurd.

Supreme Court justices clearly undervalue the prestige of Chicago clerks.