Clarence Thomas

Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1991. Nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court and the second longest-serving U.S. Supreme Court justice in history.
Thomas was born in Pin Point, Georgia. After his father abandoned the family, he was raised by his grandfather in a poor Gullah community near Savannah, Georgia. A devout Catholic, Thomas initially intended to be a priest in the Catholic Church but withdrew from seminary due to racism. He graduated with honors from the College of the Holy Cross in 1971 and earned his Juris Doctor in 1974 from Yale Law School. After law school, he became an assistant attorney general in Missouri, a legislative assistant to U.S. senator John Danforth in 1979, and Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education in 1981. President Ronald Reagan appointed Thomas as Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 1982.
President George H. W. Bush nominated Thomas to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1990. He served in that role for 19 months before filling Marshall's seat on the Supreme Court. Thomas's confirmation hearings were bitter and intensely fought, centering on an accusation that he had sexually harassed Anita Hill, a subordinate at the Department of Education and the EEOC. The Senate confirmed Thomas by a vote of 52–48, the narrowest margin in a century.
Since the death of Antonin Scalia, Thomas has been the Court's foremost originalist, stressing what he considers the original meaning in interpreting the U.S. Constitution. Until 2020, Thomas was known for his silence during most oral arguments, though he has since begun asking more questions to counsel. He is notable for his majority opinions in Good News Club v. Milford Central School (determining the freedom of religious speech in relation to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution) and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen (affirming the individual right to bear arms outside the home), as well as his dissent in Gonzales v. Raich (where he argued that the U.S. Congress may not criminalize the private cultivation of medical cannabis). He is widely considered to be the Court's most conservative justice.

Born, in its opening lines

June 23, 1948

From the Wikipedia article “Clarence Thomas” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Thomas), by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Copied November 13, 2026; not changed.

Described as

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1991

Born

June 23, 1948 · 2 references

Born in

Pin Point

Citizen of

United States

Occupation

judge · 1 reference; lawyer; politician; jurist · 1 reference

Positions held

Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (1990–); Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1991–)

Political party

Republican Party

Worked for

Monsanto (1977–1979) · 1 reference; George Washington University Law School · 1 reference

Education

Conception Abbey; College of the Holy Cross; Yale Law School; St. Pius X Catholic High School · 1 reference; Saint Louis University School of Law · 1 reference

Member of

Alpha Sigma Nu · 1 reference

Known for

My Grandfather's Son · 1 reference

Awards

Francis Boyer Award (2001) · 1 reference; Horatio Alger Award (1992) · 1 reference

Spouse

Virginia Thomas (1987–); Kathy Ambush (1971–1984)

Religion

Catholicism

Lived in

McLean

Wikipedias with a page

48

Wikidata item Q11142 (wikidata.org/wiki/Q11142), public domain (CC0). Copied November 14, 2026.