OPINION:Clarence Thomas’s adventures with questionable ethics

Julianna Rittenberg is a sophomore studying political science and an opinion writer for The New Political.

Please note that these views and opinions do not reflect those of The New Political.

Justice Clarence Thomas has made news, yet again, for questionable ethics. 

It was recently reported by ProPublica that Thomas has been accepting vacations from Harlan Crow, a Texas billionaire, without going through the proper disclosure processes for more than two decades. 

The vacations include trips on Crow’s superyacht and jet, as well as trips to Bohemian Grove, a California all-male retreat, and a week every summer at Crow’s Adirondacks resort. 

This is not the first time this year that Thomas has come under fire for questionable ethics. In March, he refused to recuse himself from a court case about Jan. 6. Many argued he should have recused himself since his wife, Ginni Thomas, was involved with spreading election misinformation and encouraged then Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to not let Trump concede to Biden. She was also interviewed by the Jan. 6 Committee about her role in the lead up to the insurrection.

Thomas’ relationship with Crow and his lack of disclosure is concerning. What else has the justice failed to properly report? What was his reason for not disclosing the vacations?

In a statement, Thomas stated that he was advised that he did not need to disclose them because Thomas and his wife were such close, personal friends with Crow. Upon just a quick search, one can find out that Crow and Thomas were not introduced until five years after Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court. 

Thomas’ involvement with Crow is disturbing for a whole reason above the questionable ethics of his job, however. 

Crow is a Hitler enthusiast who has a “Garden of Evil” full of statues of 20th century despots.

This seems extremely perilous, especially for a person who has the ear of a SCOTUS justice.

Crow is the owner of an autographed copy of Mein Kampf, Hitler’s autobiography, as well as two paintings done by Hitler himself. He has a vast collection of Nazi memorabilia, including napkins, uniform artifacts and stamps with Hitler’s face on them. 

His garden of despots is full of statues of Lenin, Stalin, Princip (the man who shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand, beginning World War I), Mussolini, Castro, Mao and more. The New York Times reported in 2003 that Crow attempted to get a statue of Saddam Hussein during a trip to Iran in 1991 but failed. As of that story, Crow reportedly still wanted to get a Hussein statue. 

Thomas has not spoken on the controversy.

Rep. Alexandria Oascio-Cortez went on CNN on Sunday to call for an ethics investigation and possible impeachment of Thomas. 

She is calling on Chief Justice Roberts to conduct an ethics investigation in his role as chief justice, but also stated that it is the House of Representatives’ role to pursue an investigation through impeachment. 

 Oascio-Cortez also stated that she no longer feels that the Supreme Court is legitimate, between last summer’s leak and this scandal. 

Many, especially young people, agree with this sentiment. How can we trust this Court to make legal decisions about our bodies, educations, marriages, lives if they cannot follow simple ethics rules?

Clarence Thomas has posed an ethical dilemma for the Court since the beginning, with Anita Hill bravely coming forward during his confirmation hearings to testify about the sexual harassment she faced from him. 

He was still confirmed. After his wife participated in an attempt to overthrow a legal election, he stayed on the Supreme Court. He has refused to recuse himself from cases involving that same insurrection. And now, it appears that his seat on the Supreme Court is safe as conservatives rush to his defense. 

Where can we possibly go from here as a country if we allow a man who has rooms of Nazi memorabilia, including autographs by Hitler and a garden of statues of dictators to have the ear of a sitting Supreme Court justice?

I will never feel safe in a country where a man who listens to, accepts gifts from, vacations with and considers a man like that a close friend can make decisions about my body, my right to get married and my education. 

Today, I have no answers. I know I will work as hard as I can in my career to elect politicians who will not stand for that, but that does nothing to change the now. I am disappointed, but sadly not surprised.

All I have to offer is my future, which I will dedicate to making this country better and safer. All I can do is fight like hell.