Judicial Philosophy

Clarence Thomas' confirmation hearings were so bland and uninformative on the one hand and so contentious on the other that there was little opportunity to ascertain his judicial philosophy. However, in the case of Hudson vs McMillian argued before the Supreme Court in February, (Washington Post, February 27, 1992), his judicial philosophy became crystal clear.

Hudson, a prisoner, handcuffed and shackled, was being beaten by prison guards. Hudson was down and the guards were kicking him. Their supervisor, who was nearby, admonished them "not to have too much fun." Hudson had on handcuffs and leg irons that were, in turn, chained to a heavy belt around his waist. On his feet he could shuffle along, but on the ground he could not raise his hands to his face or head and, therefore, could not protect his head when he was being kicked. Hudson suffered bruises, a swelling of his face and lip and his dental plate was cracked.

Seven of the nine justices found that Hudson had been treated to cruel and unusual punishment, which is forbidden under the Eighth Amendment. Clarence Thomas, the poor kid who succeeded, wrote the dissent: "The injuries were not significant enough to warrant consideration under the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."

It seems that we now have a new standard for the treatment of prisoners, the Thomas Significance Standard. If the guy is not banged up too badly—you know, broken bones, arterial bleeding and that sort of thing—not to worry. Of course, this is precisely the standard of high class torture. Splints under the fingernails don't produce too much injury; they hurt terribly, but the injury is slight. The same goes for electrodes fastened to private parts or beatings with soft rubber truncheons. In all of the above, the injury to the body and its continued life is not all that significant.

Hudson was lucky that Clarence Thomas was one of the Supreme Court Justices and not one of the guards.

What his judicial philosophy is, Thomas makes abundantly clear.

I got mine sucker!

...Ted Sudia..

© Copyright 1992
Institute for domestic Tranquility