By Aaron Miller-
A petition calling on Justice Clarence Thomas to stand down from the bench of the U.S Supreme Court has hit more than 300,000 signatures.
The petition was organised by U.S policy advocacy group MoveOn, after Thomas was discovered to be the only judge to vote in favour of blocking an investigation into Donald Trump’s involvement in the Capitol attack. It implicitly questions his integrity for that reason.
The petition does not mention the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on abortion rights, even though he Thomas was among those who voted to overrule abortion.
MoveOn claims in the petition that the Thomas has a ‘long history of conflicts of interest’ and uses his position of power to further ‘a right-wing agenda’.
“Recently, Justice Clarence Thomas voted against a Supreme Court decision to compel the release of Donald Trump’s records regarding the January 6 insurrection and attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,” the petition reads.
“It has become clear that his wife … was actively urging the White House to overturn election results both leading up to January 6 and after the deadly insurrection.”
“He must resign – or Congress must immediately investigate and impeach.”
Thomas was one of the justices who voted to repeal national abortion legislation in the U.S last week.
Writing about the ruling, he said the court well explains why, under our substantive due process precedents, the purported right to abortion is not a form of ‘liberty’ protected by the Due Process Clause,” of the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment.
That clause guarantees that no state shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.”
Thomas argued that the right to abortion under that clause “is neither ‘deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition’ nor ‘implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.’”
He said they all are based on interpretations of the Due Process Clause.
Thomas argued that the right to abortion under that clause “is neither ‘deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition’ nor ‘implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.