When Thurgood Marshall resigned from the U.S. Supreme Court in 1991, he was replaced by another Black justice: Clarence Thomas, appointed by then-President George H.W. Bush. But Thomas was a radical departure from his predecessor. While Marshall (who died in 1993) was a liberal, Thomas was a far-right social conservative.
During the 1990s and 2000s, Thomas' far-right views set him apart not only from the liberal justices, but also, from more moderate conservatives such as Ronald Reagan appointees Anthony Kennedy and Sandra Day O'Connor. In 2024, however, Thomas is much more influential on the High Court than he was 20 or 30 years ago.
In a biting op-ed published by Politico on Georgetown University law professor Sheryll Cashin — who once clerked for Marshall — argues that Thomas' predecessor would be appalled by the direction the High Court has taken in recent years, especially efforts to undermine the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling of 1954.
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"In contrast to Marshall," Cashin explains, "conservative judges and activists have reduced Brown to a demand for colorblindness, discouraging local efforts to integrate schools. The extreme right is also engaged in an all-out assault on public education. And last week, in a concurring opinion upholding GOP-redistricting in South Carolina, Justice Clarence Thomas — the man who replaced Marshall on the Court — called into question the Brown decision, describing it as an 'extravagant (use) of judicial power."
Cashin adds, "My former boss would be furious, as am I…. Were Marshall alive today, I am certain he would argue that Brown and its imperatives of integration are still required. "
In her op-ed, Cashin fondly recalls her time clerking for Marshall during her second year of law school.
"He was 82 and declining physically but still sharp and withering in both his humor and legal analysis, his rotund frame and raspy voice filling the cloistered conference room next to his office," Cashin notes. "As he sat at a large table for his weekly meeting with us, his law clerks, he rehearsed exactly what he would say to his colleagues to keep them from striking Brown's death knell."
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Sheryll Cashin's full op-ed for Politico is available at this link.
