You can be sure this will be "huffed and puffed" about if Thomas is put up for Chief Justice.
Booker Rising - Justice Clarence Thomas Reports Wealth of Gifts
By Molotov
The Los Angeles Times documents the gifts received by the Supreme Court justice, who is on President Bush's short list for the Chief Justice position. In the last six years, the conservative Republican has accepted free items valued at $42,200, the most on the high court. It should be noted that federal judges are free to accept gifts of unlimited value as long as the donor does not have official business before them. What Justice Thomas has received in gifts:
— $19,000 Bible, once owned by escaped slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass, from a Republican donor
— $15,000 for a Lincoln bust from the American Enterprise Institute
— $5,000 cash gift from a mobile home enthusiast, to help pay a relative's education expenses
— $1,200 in tires from a trucking executive
— $1,200 in batteries from former law clerks
— $800 jacket from Daytona 500 auto race
Justice Thomas filed papers for these gifts. The cast gift especially bothers us (he can't pay for his own relatives' education?!?!?!). So does the free trip aboard a private jet, arranged by a wealthy Texas real estate investor who helped run an advocacy group that filed briefs with the Supreme Court. Not illegal, but problematic if you ask us. We'd certainly tighten the rules. |
