U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is being slammed for hiring a law clerk who allegedly sent a racist text to a colleague in 2017.
George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School announced that Crystal Clanton, an alumna of the university, was selected to serve as Thomas’ judicial clerk for the 2024-2025 term.
In 2017, The New Yorker published screenshots of text messages Clanton exchanged with a colleague while she worked at Turning Point USA, a nonprofit organization that promotes conservative politics at high schools, colleges, and universities.
One text message read, “I HATE BLACK PEOPLE. Like f–k them all…I hate blacks. End of story.”
Svante Myrick, president of People For the American Way, called the hiring “a new low” for the 75-year-old conservative justice.
“He has single-handedly undermined the public’s faith in the Supreme Court,” said the former mayor of Ithaca, New York. “He’s violated so many ethical standards.”
Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross said of the hiring: “Racists align themselves with equally racist people.” She added. Clarence Thomas has gone out of his way to be anti-equity and to be the face of the anti-Blackness.”
In an interview with The New Yorker, Crystal Clanton said that she had “no recollection” of sending the racist message to her former colleague.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Thomas defended Clanton in a letter, writing that “bigotry is antithetical to her nature and character.”
Myrick said that hiring Clanton is a “slap in the face, not only to Black Americans, but all Americans who want a fair judiciary.”
He emphasized that clerkships at the U.S. Supreme Court are “the most sought-after positions.”
“The clerks write many of the opinions we see…and this woman should be disqualified from the position,” Myrick added.
After Clanton left her post at Turning Point USA, Thomas’ wife, Ginni Thomas,…
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