[25], The Senate voted 52—48 on October 15, 1991, to confirm Thomas as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. [30], After Totenberg’s story aired, Biden quickly came under pressure to reopen the hearings, from House Democratic women,[30] and from various groups that had opposed the Thomas nomination earlier in the process. Nomination of Judge Clarence Thomas to be Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, September 10, 11, 12, 13, and 16, 1991. Berry-Myers said that her “impression” was that Professor Hill desired a greater relationship with Judge Thomas than “just a professional one”. [8][9] On July 1, 1991, President Bush nominated Clarence Thomas, a young (43 years-old) black conservative judge, to replace retiring justice Thurgood Marshall, a civil rights icon and the Court’s first African American justice. Part 1 of 4 parts. "you have to remember the context" – referring to the time that, Mr Brock's 2003 book has an entire chapter (Chapter 5) devoted to describing his experience writing The Real Anita Hill article and book in the early 1990s. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas's wife Ginni caused consternation among an email group of her husband's clerks by her fervently pro-Trump posts before the riot. Published in LaFollette Press from Feb. 17 to Feb. 18, 2021. [23] Likewise, in view of what had happened to Bork, Thomas’ confirmation hearings were also approached as a political campaign by the White House and Senate Republicans. [1] The nomination proceedings were contentious from the start, especially over the issue of abortion, and many women’s groups and civil rights groups opposed Thomas on the basis of his conservative political views, as they had also opposed Bush’s Supreme Court nominee from the previous year, David Souter.[2]. Understanding the transmission will help consumers better understand why it behaves the way that it does, which we hope to do. The allegations led to a media frenzy about sexual harassment, and further investigations. As a result, the final Senate vote on the nomination was postponed and the confirmation hearings were reopened. In his book, Epstein argues that the government should be regarded with the same respect as any other private entity in a property dispute. '"[39], Two women, Angela Wright and Rose Jourdain, made statements to Senate staffers in support of Hill. Share Clarence's life story with friends and family. Clarence LaVaughn Franklin (né Walker; January 22, 1915 – July 27, 1984) was an American Baptist minister and civil rights activist. [77], Nomination process of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court in 1991, Statements in support of Hill’s allegations, Testimony and statements in support of Thomas, Authors skeptical about Hill’s allegations. Bush’s staff made three arguments against nominating Thomas at the time: Thomas had only served eight months as a judge; Bush could expect to replace Thurgood Marshall with Thomas in due time; and multiple senior advisors told Bush that they did not feel that Thomas was ready. He was born on Nov. 22, 1932 in LaFollette, the son of the late Millard and Bertha (Violet) Boshears. [7], White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu promised that Bush would fill the next Supreme Court vacancy with a “true conservative” and predicted a “knock-down, drag-out, bloody-knuckles, grass-roots fight” over confirmation. HBO dramatized the confirmation hearing in the 2016 film Confirmation that stars Kerry Washington as Hill and Wendell Pierce as Thomas. And this committee and this body validated it and displayed it in prime time over our entire nation.” He called the hearing a “high tech lynching”:[46], This is not an opportunity to talk about difficult matters privately or in a closed environment. President Bush had appointed him to that position in March 1990. It's a national disgrace. [40] They report that four women traveled to Washington, D.C., to corroborate Anita Hill’s claims, including Wright and Jourdain.[40]. "[53] Senator Alan K. Simpson was puzzled by why Hill and Thomas met, dined, and spoke by phone on various occasions after they no longer worked together. US news, world news, crime news. Justice William Brennan stepped down from the Supreme Court in 1990. BURTON — Lawrence “Larry” J. Bennett, 88, died Monday, March 8, 2021, at UH-Geauga Medical Center. For vehicle maintenance visit … And from my standpoint, as a black American, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. Today’s top breaking news and current events. [13], On October 11, 1991, Hill was called to testify during the hearing. "[27], On October 6, 1991, after the conclusion of the confirmation hearings, and while the full Senate was debating whether to give final approval to Thomas’ nomination, NPR Supreme Court correspondent Nina Totenberg aired information from a leaked Judiciary Committee/FBI report stating that a former colleague of Thomas, University of Oklahoma law school professor Anita Hill, accused him of making unwelcome sexual comments to her when the two worked together at the Department of Education (ED) and then at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). 1 post published by wlp22 on March 1, 2021. by Tony Wikrent Strategic Political Economy Russia turns away from NASA, says it will work with China on a Moon base [Ars Technica, via Naked Capitalism 3-10-21] Brazil’s High Court Invalidates Lula’s Convictions, Leaving Him Eligible to Run Against Bolsonaro [greenwald.substack.com, via Naked Capitalism 3-10-21] ….this is increasingly … And until society is willing to accept the validity of claims of harassment, no matter how privileged or powerful the harasser, it is a choice women will continue to make.[73]. They made the transaction easy. [26], At one point in the beginning of the proceedings, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman and future Vice President and President of the United States Joe Biden asked Thomas if he believed the Constitution granted any sort of property rights to individuals as described in Richard Epstein’s book Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain, which had been published by Harvard University Press in 1985. J-102-40. [24], Public confirmation hearings on the Thomas nomination began on September 10, 1991, and lasted for ten days. [33][34][35][36][37], Ten years earlier, in 1981, Hill had become an attorney-adviser to Clarence Thomas at the United States Department of Education (ED). Scott Douglas Gerber wrote a book in 1998 about the jurisprudence of Justice Thomas, and came to the following conclusion about the Anita Hill allegations: “Frankly, I do not know whom to believe. Senior Republicans claimed that while Thomas was well-qualified, the ABA would not support him because they asserted that the ABA had been politicized. He described her as touchy and apt to overreact, and described her work at the EEOC as mediocre. "[11] He also wrote that, “in selecting Justice Thomas, President Bush returned to a practice – nominating extreme ideologues for the Supreme Court – that many hoped had ended with the Senate’s rejection of Judge Bork. Patriot Buick GMC of Williamsburg offers a variety of new and used trucks, SUVs, and cars to customers near Norfolk, Hampton, and Richmond. Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Clarence_Thomas_Supreme_Court_nomination&oldid=1008919792, George H. W. Bush administration controversies, Nominations to the United States Supreme Court, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from September 2010, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 25 February 2021, at 19:19. [12][41][42] During the Thomas nomination proceedings, Wright and Hill were the only people who publicly alleged that then-Judge Thomas had made unsolicited sexual advances, and Hill was the only one who testified to that effect.[43]. When Thomas became Chairman of the U.S. The White House attempted to preemptively discredit the ABA as partisan, and Republican Senators threatened to bar the ABA from future participation if it gave Thomas anything less than a "qualified" rating. Wright, who was one of Thomas’ subordinates at the EEOC until he fired her, told Senate Judiciary Committee staff that Thomas had repeatedly made comments to her much like those he allegedly made to Hill, including pressuring her for dates, asking her the size of her breasts, and frequently commenting on the anatomy of other women. [55] Anita Hill’s sexual harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas became public after the nomination had been reported out from the committee. The senators’ focus as they questioned Thomas and an array of witnesses for and against the nomination was on Thomas' legal views, as expressed in his speeches, writings, and the decisions he had handed down as a federal appeals court judge. A motion earlier in the day to give the nomination a favorable recommendation had failed 7—7. Part 3 of 4 parts. In fact, she was a left-winger who'd never expressed any religious sentiments whatsoever during the time I'd known her, and the only reason why she'd held a job in the Reagan administration was because I'd given it to her. [12], Another former Thomas assistant, Sukari Hardnett, did not accuse Thomas of sexual harassment, but told the Judiciary Committee staff that “if you were young, black, female, reasonably attractive and worked directly for Clarence Thomas, you knew full well you were being inspected and auditioned as a female. [46], Senator Orrin Hatch asked Thomas his response to Hill’s graphic claims inquiring: “[D]id you ever say in words or substance something like there is a pubic hair in my Coke?” and “Did you ever use the term Long Dong Silver in conversation with Professor Hill?” Thomas firmly denied having said either, as well as denying having read The Exorcist, in which the character Burke Dennings says at a party, “There appear[s] to be an alien pubic hair floating around in my gin. In an op-ed piece written by Anita Hill, appearing in The New York Times on October 2, 2007, Ms. Hill wrote that she “will not stand by silently and allow [Justice Thomas], in his anger, to reinvent me."[75]. Biden held the book up for Thomas to see and denounced its contents. [32] Amid the resulting frenzy the president declared that he had “total confidence” in Thomas. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree.