Clarence Thomas Responds to Rumors About His Retirement
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas countered claims that he was considering retiring on Monday.
Seventy-year-old Thomas spoke to audience members about the rumors at an event hosted by the Supreme Court Historical Society, CNN reported.
“People can say things about you and for you that have nothing to do with you,” Thomas said. “I enjoy being here, I enjoy my work.”
Justice Clarence Thomas on retirement rumors: “I have no idea where this stuff comes from. One of the things you have to get used to in this business…is that people can say things about you and for you that have nothing to do with you.” #SCOTUS
Full video at 10pm ET on C-SPAN2. pic.twitter.com/NrbfGgRTnJ
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 3, 2019
While he was never directly asked about retiring, Thomas recounted a recent event in which his wife came down the stairs reading a story about how he was planning for retirement.
Thomas said, “I think people just wanted me to know what I was going to do.”
“I have no idea where this stuff comes from,” he added.
He had previously denied retirement plans in April, saying that he isn’t planning to retire within the next 20 or 30 years, The Hill reported.
“One of the things you have to get used to in this business … is that people can say things about you and for you that have nothing to do with you,” Thomas said.
Thomas went on to describe his summer plans, which included spending some time traveling across the country in his RV.
When asked how he dealt with stress, Thomas joked, “I really don’t have a lot of stress. I cause stress.”
Thomas made headlines last week as he and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg traded jabs in a decision to not review a lower court’s decision to block a provision in an Indiana abortion law.
That provision would have banned abortions based on race, sex or disability.
While Thomas said that the court was right not to review the law, he added that it was only a matter of time before the court was faced with more cases involving abortion.
In a footnote of Thomas’ 20-page concurrence, he slammed Ginsburg’s “difficult to understand” argument that “regulating the disposition of an aborted child’s body might impose an ‘undue burden’ on the mother’s right to abort.”
Ginsburg fired back and said Thomas’ footnote “displays more heat than light.”
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
