Justice Clarence Thomas told a crowd at the University of Notre Dame that media coverage of Supreme Court decisions based on the ideology of the jurists jeopardizes the faith the public has in the Supreme Court and the legal system, the Washington Post reports.
“I think the media makes it sound as though you are just always going right to your personal preference. So if they think you are antiabortion or something personally, they think that’s the way you always will come out. They think you’re for this or for that. They think you become like a politician,” Thomas said in response to a question about public misconceptions of the court. “That’s a problem. You’re going to jeopardize any faith in the legal institutions.”
Thomas, who voted with the late conservative SCOTUS icon Antonin Scalia 91% of the time, voiced concern that the justices were being perceived as political actors, not independent jurists.
Thomas’s comments echo early statements by Justices Stephen Breyer and Amy Coney Barrett decrying the characterization that justices as “junior politicians,” in Breyers’ words.
SCOTUS is scheduled to return to hear in-person cases at the US Supreme Court building in October. Cases the court is expected to hear relate to the Texas abortion restrictions, New York gun control and voter suppression efforts in numerous states.