Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas asked a question. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t be news, but for Thomas, it was the end of a 10-year silence.
During one of the first oral hearings held by the Court after Justice Antonin Scalia’s death today, Thomas finally asked a question for the first time in a decade. As CNN points out, Thomas and Scalia were the two closest judges ideologically, with both strongly supporting a to-the-letter interpretation of the Constitution.
According to the New York Times, the case in front of the court was whether a misdemeanor conviction could bar someone from a constitutional right. Ilana H. Eisenstein, a lawyer for the government, asked if there were any more questions after making her argument. Thomas spoke up.
“This is a misdemeanor violation. It suspends a constitutional right,” Thomas said. Can you give me another area where a misdemeanor violation suspends a constitutional right?”
The two continued a back-and-forth over the issue and Eisenstein suggested that there would be a case where someone could have their First Amendment right suspended.
The case is Voisine v. United States, which concerns a domestic assault conviction which could be considered a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence and blocks the plaintiffs from owning a gun, notes CNN.
This was the first time that Thomas asked a questions since February 2006 during a death penalty case. He was close friends with Scalia and spoke at Scalia’s funeral.
“It is hard to imagine the Court without my friend. I will miss him beyond all measure,” Thomas said.