Will Clarence Thomas Return To Silence Once Justices Return To Supreme Court?

He previously spent a decade without speaking once during oral arguments.

[T]here is one and only one way he will not return to form — if they retain justice-by-justice questioning. And the odds of that happening are approximately zero.

— Professor Irv Gornstein, executive director of Georgetown Law’s Supreme Court Institute, commenting on whether he thinks Justice Clarence Thomas will revert to being silent on the bench if the justices are able to return to the courtroom when the new term begins in October. During the pandemic, while oral arguments have taken place by phone, Supreme Court justices have taken turns speaking, instead of jumping in to speak over each other.


Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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