U.S. Supreme Court docket
Justice Thomas hires clerk accused of sending racist textual content; was she arrange by rogue worker?
U.S. Supreme Court docket Justice Clarence Thomas poses for an official portrait within the Supreme Court docket constructing Oct. 7, 2022, in Washington, D.C. Picture by Alex Wong/Getty Photographs.
A graduate of the George Mason College Antonin Scalia Legislation Faculty will probably be clerking for U.S. Supreme Court docket Justice Clarence Thomas, regardless of a previous allegation that she despatched a racist textual content whereas working at a conservative group.
Crystal Clanton, class of 2022, will clerk for Thomas for the 2024-2025 time period, based on a press release (by way of How Appealing), the New York Times and an opinion column by the Washington Post.
The New Yorker had reported in 2017 that Clanton allegedly despatched the textual content to a colleague in 2015 whereas working on the conservative scholar group Turning Level USA.
“I hate Black individuals,” the textual content stated. “Like f- – – all of them … I hate Blacks. Finish of story.”
Clanton advised the New Yorker that she had no recollection of the messages, they usually “don’t mirror what I consider or who I’m.” The chief director of Turning Level USA, Charlie Kirk, advised the New Yorker that “Turning Level assessed the scenario and took decisive motion inside 72 hours of being made conscious of the difficulty.”
Thomas’ spouse, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, was on Turning Level USA’s advisory council. After Clanton left Turning Level USA, she lived with the Thomases for near a yr. Justice Thomas has stated he inspired Clanton to go to regulation college.
After her commencement, Clanton clerked for U.S. District Choose Corey L. Maze of Alabama and Choose William H. Pryor Jr. of the eleventh U.S. Circuit Court docket of Appeals at Atlanta.
The federal judiciary investigated the scenario after Pryor employed Clanton on the request of seven Democratic members of Congress. Pryor advised the judiciary in a letter that he discovered that the racist electronic mail was truly written by a rogue worker fired for creating faux textual content messages to discredit co-workers. A lawyer for Clanton advised Pryor that she didn’t dispute the allegation due to a nondisclosure settlement.
Thomas really useful Clanton to Pryor, and he thinks that the allegations have been false, based on a letter that he submitted for the judiciary investigation.
“I do know Crystal Clanton, and I do know bigotry,” Thomas wrote. “Bigotry is antithetical to her nature.”
The judiciary investigation ended with a willpower that Maze and Pryor knew concerning the allegations in opposition to Clanton however discovered them to be false.
