The stories coming out about the gifts received by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, particularly from Harlan Crowe, have stirred some memories.
About thirty years ago I ran a conference at Albany Law School. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor gave the keynote address. Her remarks are part of a book of the conference papers that I edited and arranged for publication. Multi-authored academic books usually don’t sell well but this one had an audience. Publishers send royalty checks to the editor. But I had told everyone that I would share the royalties among all the speakers, O’Connor included. I don’t believe there was any prohibition about Justice O’Connor being paid for her work. But she wouldn’t take her share and every time royalty checks came, her share went to the Albany Law School scholarship fund at her request.
A decade later, our son was planning his marriage. Our daughter-in-law has a family friend with a lovely home on the Connecticut shore of the Long Island Sound who invited the happy couple to use their place. So Eli asked if I knew anyone in Connecticut who could perform their wedding. Does a lawyer with decades of experience in practice and teaching know any judges? Well yes. So I called my classmate and friend, Judge José Cabranes. José was a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and he lives and performs many of his judicial duties in Connecticut. Would José perform the wedding. Of course he said he would be happy to. I believe there had been some change in Connecticut law so he checked to make sure he could do it. He could and we were on.
That raised the question how I could show my appreciation. Other friends on the bench told me he could not accept anything significant. They suggested a book and I remember taking their suggestion and giving José a book, although I no longer remember what book I gave him. And, oh yes, I sent José and his wife photos of José, his wife, Kate, the happy couple, together with my wife, myself and our daughter – but I don’t think those pictures were a problem because they were, in the language of a classic credit card commercial, priceless.
I suspect that Justice O’Connor, my friend, Judge José Cabranes, and our friends who sat as judges on other courts were all going beyond the strict requirements of the law, but they certainly embodied its spirit.
The rules were designed to protect the appearance of justice as well as to remove any temptation to accept bribes or pervert their decisions in favor of friends, colleagues or wealthy patrons. I don’t know whether Mr. Crowe’s patronage had an impact on the Thomases but I see the behavior of Clarence and Ginni Thomas as a symptom of their disdain for rules of ethics and for American democracy. Thomas joined the Court wanting to turn back the clock of American law and politics by a century in ways that would further empower the wealthy and remove all federal protections for the working person.
It's been reported that Crowe keeps statues and memorabilia of some of the world’s most brutal dictators. I won’t speculate about why, but let me end, somewhat mischievously, by pointing out that a flock of crows are known to birders as a “murder of crows”!
Steve Gottlieb’s latest book is Unfit for Democracy: The Roberts Court and The Breakdown of American Politics. He is the Jay and Ruth Caplan Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Albany Law School, served on the New York Civil Liberties Union board, on the New York Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, and as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Iran.
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