Recently the AP reported Justice Thomas’s outrage over the leaking of a draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The court, he stated, had been irreparably damaged by the leak and trust in the institution was gone forever. He went on to castigate liberals for protesting this decision outside of conservative justices private homes and argued that conservatives have never acted that way. I won’t take issue with Justice Thomas’s concern with the leak itself other than to say it pertains to a decision that reverses a half a century of established legal precedent and will permanently impact millions of people’s lives in a profound way. Most would conclude that such a decision is infinitely more significant than the soon to be forgotten release of an early draft.
But it was his pompous indignation at the liberal protestors that really caught my attention. Justice Thomas should be reminded of what his colleague endured some years ago at the hands of conservatives. Following the Supreme Court’s Kelo v. New London (2005) decision, conservatives launched a highly financed campaign to take Justice David Souter’s home in Weare by eminent domain. Likely Justice Thomas ignores this far more insidious attack by conservatives since he was on the opposite side of the issue and it doesn’t fit his agenda. Indeed, the credibility of the Supreme Court has been severely damaged. But all is not lost. It can be restored with justices who speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Glenn Horner
Epsom