A Justice's Goals

Monday, October 15, 2007

Sixteen years after his Supreme Court confirmation hearings riveted the nation, many still see Clarence Thomas as a polarizing figure. But while discussing his memoir last week with Newsweek-The Post's Lally Weymouth, Thomas stressed that he sees himself as a federal judge -- not an ideologue. Excerpts:

Q: Why did you write the book?

A: It started when my brother died. I suddenly realized I'm the last person in the house. There's nobody left. Who is going to tell the story? We both revered our grandfather.

He didn't sound so nice when he kicked you out of his house.

I think he did the right thing. I think it was a kick in the pants.

The court today seems so divided. It seems like the votes are always 5 to 4.

Yes, but that doesn't mean that the court doesn't get along. [We get] along just fine as an institution, as friends, as colleagues -- it's a wonderful place. The mere fact that people disagree doesn't carry over into how they treat each other. That is what I thought Washington was going to be when I came to town. I didn't think for a moment that because I didn't agree with somebody meant I was going to be hated. It wasn't until I went into the Reagan administration that I started feeling that lash.

How do you think your hearings changed the confirmation process?

It's obvious, isn't it? Would you want to be nominated for something [now]? Justice [Byron R.] White was, he told me, nominated on Day 1 and sworn in 10 days later. Now look at the confirmation hearings. . . . You've got all of this controversy around them -- how does that improve the court? I think it's really poisoned the well.

When you were going through those hearings, did you think . . . you should never have accepted the nomination?

No, not really. I would have preferred not to have been nominated for any variety of reasons. But I think it's wrong for people to do bad things to other people.

Are you referring to the senators or Anita Hill?

No, I wasn't referring to her. I was thinking of the interest groups. There are always going to be people who are going to try to trip you up. But that doesn't mean that those who are in charge of the process should allow it to happen. People in authority should know better.

Have you enjoyed your time on the court?

This job is a humbling experience. When you decide cases, you want to try to get it right. Some people know how they want it to come out before they start [so] the case is easy for them because they only see one side, their side. The rest of us have to look at both sides and think it through. I made a decision when I first got here: I will only do what is necessary to discharge the responsibilities under my oath. I will not do things for histrionics. I will not do things so people will think well of me. I will only do this job.

Have you moved intellectually to the right?

No, I never moved toward the right. I was a libertarian. What I wanted more than anything else was not to be in a box. People try to put me in one. They have become very comfortable with that when it comes to blacks. We're all supposed to be liberals, Democrats and believe in affirmative action. I'm just like everybody else. I'm complicated; I think things through. I assume people will say that I am conservative. But the reason I wrote the book about my grandfather is that my views are consistent with his.

Which means?

To the extent that I am conservative -- I am conserving what they gave me. I made a decision to align myself with the Republican Party years ago. I am not a Republican now. I am a federal judge and have been for almost 20 years. And I take that enormously . . . seriously. It is really important to me to do this job right, regardless of what anybody else says. President George Herbert Walker Bush asked me: Can you call them as you see them if you get on the court? That's all the man exacted from me.

Along the road from Pin Point, Ga., to the Supreme Court, why did you not give up during difficult times?

I wanted to give up a hundred times. The thing that was so hurtful to me was after the end of that long journey to be beaten like that.

You mean at the hearings?

Yes, throughout the hearings, the summer, everything. . . . I asked my wife, "Why? I just disagree with them. I don't even know if I disagree with them on specific issues." [But] I cannot carry around bitterness and at the same time carry around a positive message for young kids and for people who still need help. My goal is I will never treat anybody the way I was treated in this city. I also will never do my job as poorly as people did their jobs when I was at their mercy.