Clarence Thomas Supreme Court Nomination
On July 1, 1991, President George H. W. Bush nominated Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court of the United States to replace Thurgood Marshall, who had announced his retirement. 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.
Toward the end of the confirmation hearings, allegations by Anita Hill, a law professor who had previously worked under Thomas at the United States Department of Education and then at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), were leaked to the media from a confidential FBI report. The allegations led to a media frenzy and further investigations. Televised hearings were re-opened and held by the Senate Judiciary Committee before the nomination was moved to the full Senate for a vote. Thomas was confirmed by a narrow majority.
Read more about Clarence Thomas Supreme Court Nomination: Nomination, Early Hearings, Allegations About Sexual Comments, Senate Confirmation, Cultural Impact
Famous quotes containing the words clarence thomas, clarence, thomas, supreme, court and/or nomination:
“I’m not an Uncle Tom.... I’m going to be here for 40 years. For those who don’t like it, get over it.”
—Clarence Thomas (b. 1948)
“Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.”
—Richard Sherman, songwriter, Robert Sherman, songwriter, and Clarence Brown. A Spoonful of Sugar (song)
“Lord Thomas was buried in the church,
Fair Ellinor in the choir;
And out from her bosom there grew a red rose
And out of Lord Thomas a briar.”
—Unknown. Lord Thomas and Fair Annet (l. 77–80)
“We are all bound to the throne of the Supreme Being by a flexible chain which restrains without enslaving us. The most wonderful aspect of the universal scheme of things is the action of free beings under divine guidance.”
—Joseph De Maistre (1753–1821)
“At court I met it, in clothes brave enough
To be a courtier, and looks grave enough
To seem a statesman.”
—Ben Jonson (1572–1637)
“Do you know I believe that [William Jennings] Bryan will force his nomination on the Democrats again. I believe he will either do this by advocating Prohibition, or else he will run on a Prohibition platform independent of the Democrats. But you will see that the year before the election he will organize a mammoth lecture tour and will make Prohibition the leading note of every address.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)