Supreme Court spouses don’t have to keep silent on public issues, though they generally have.
Not so Virginia L. Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas.
A long-time conservative activist, Thomas has founded Liberty Central, an organization aimed at “tea party” activists.
Legal experts aren’t so sure whether her doing this might raise conflict-of-interest difficulties for her husband if organizations that contribute to Liberty Central are involved in cases before the court.
Stephen Gillers, a New York University law professor, told
The Los Angeles Times that Clarence Thomas would have to be alert to possible conflicts, and he would have to describe them to the parties appearing before him. The decision to step aside would be his, Gillers said.
Jeffrey Toobin, the CNN legal analyst and New Yorker magazine writer, stressed on CNN that neither Virginia nor Clarence Thomas was violating any rule.
“She is a formidable person in her own right,” Toobin said. “So the fact that her husband is a Supreme Court justice shouldn’t prevent her from doing the work that she’s trained and studied and has experience to do.”
Virginia Thomas, who is 52 and a graduate of Creighton University Law School, came to Washington to work for a Nebraska congressman.
Later, she was an aide to then-Rep. Dick Armey. She has been a labor counsel at the U.S. Department of Labor and director of executive branch relations for the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Before starting Liberty Central, she held several positions with Hillsdale College, of Hillsdale, Mich., including setting up its Washington, D.C., campus.
According to its mission statement, Liberty Central is “activating informed American patriots.” It will provide them with information about the nation’s “core-founding principles.”
The group’s website, which is operating but not complete, is key to the process as it will allow “everyday citizens” to connect in “as little as 3-5 minutes a day.”
The group will not endorse political candidates, but it will keep scorecards on the votes of members of Congress.
Liberty Central, which is based in Virginia, hit a speed bump last week, when state officials realized it was raising money without having registered with the Office of Consumer Affairs.
Liberty Central officials said they had been waiting to receive approval of the organization’s non-profit status from the Internal Revenue Service before notifying the state. That approval arrived Thursday, they said.
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1 Comments
#1. Lawrence M. Bell 10.20.2010
Mrs. Thomas, according to this article, developed her Liberty Central Website for “activating informed American patriots.” I am a registered Democrat, consider myself a somewhat left-of-center-liberal, an honest taxpayer, a hard worker, a straightforward and outspoken advocate for issues as which which I have a stong opinion, and I regularly read the New York Times and often the Wall Street Journal. I am an informed American patriot. Why do far-right conservatives, like Mrs. Thomas, believe that only teapartiers and their ilk deserve that appellation? And from whom do the teapartiers believe that they must “take back” the country? Just what the heck does that mean? I just don’t get where people like Mrs. Thomas think they have a corner on wisdom. They don’t. No one does. Everyone just has opinions - period. LMB
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