Civil Liberties

CLARENCE THOMAS DISCUSSES ORIGINALISM AND CATHOLICISM IN CUA LAW EVENT

written by Kate Scanlon 2 days ago

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas discussed topics including originalism and his own Catholic faith during remarks Sept. 25 at The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law.

In remarks about the concept of “stare decisis”, or the legal doctrine where courts must follow precedent, Thomas said courts should respect precedent, adding, “Precedent should be respectful of our legal tradition and our country and our laws, and be based on something, not just something somebody wrapped up and others went along with.”

When the high court issued its 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Thomas sparked controversy by arguing in a concurring opinion that the high court “should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell,” landmark cases over contraception, same-sex relationships and marriage.

In his remarks, Thomas cited the example of Plessy v. Ferguson, a case that upheld segregation laws, which was later overturned by Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, as an example of a case where precedent alone would not have resulted in a constitutional outcome.

Thomas cited a legal joke about stare decisis, “You apply it rigorously when you want to overrule a prior precedent that you don’t like, but loosely when it’s one of yours.” … “I can’t remember which book that’s in,” he said, but “I don’t think that that is acceptable, right?”

The event, hosted by the school’s Center for the Constitution and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, was moderated by Jennifer Mascott, an affiliated fellow of CIT who is currently on leave from the school as senior counsel to the president in the White House Counsel’s Office and has been nominated for a seat on the Third Circuit.

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