Clarence Thomas was born on June 23, 1948, in Pin Point, Georgia. His early life in the small town was not easy, and Thomas’s father abandoned the family while Clarence was still an infant. Mother and son moved to Clarence’s grandfather’s home when Thomas was seven, and he helped out with the family business.

Before obtaining his law degree, Clarence considered becoming a priest, and even enrolled in a seminary college in Missouri. By Thomas’s account, he abandoned his intentions of entering the priesthood when he heard a fellow student express feelings of satisfaction when civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. He took a completely different path after his departure, graduating from Yale with a law degree in 1974.

At several points during his early career, he worked under John Danforth, the State Attorney General at the time. It was during the presidency of Ronald Reagan that Clarence began to achieve major career advancements. He served as the Chairman of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from 1982 until 1990.

In 1991, President George H W Bush nominated Clarence as a member of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was to take the place of Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to serve as a member. Assuming his seat, however, proved to be quite difficult. Several organizations opposed his appointment, including women’s groups and, surprisingly, those focused on obtaining equal rights for black Americans. They felt his conservative views would be a detriment to their causes. Feminist Florence Kennedy was a particularly vocal opponent.

When the hearings regarding whether Clarence would make a suitable member of the high court were wrapping up, more controversy emerged. Anita Hill, who Thomas had worked with in the past, accused Clarence of sexual harassment. The explicit and publicized hearings undoubtedly affected both Thomas and his reputation. In the end, however, there was insufficient evidence to prove Hill’s claims. Thomas won the appointment through a very slim majority of votes, and assumed his place in the Supreme Court on October 23, 1991.

Throughout his time with the Supreme Court, Clarence has often been compared to conservative Antonin Scalia. His views on important political and social matters are praised by some, but certainly not by all. He is a proponent of free speech, but also the death penalty. He is an abortion opponent, and also opposes the idea that police should be able to stop people for no apparent reason. With his seemingly contradictory views, it seems as though Thomas can not readily be classified as supporting the right or the left. Rather, this influential Supreme Court justice seems to rely on his own intuition and morals when deciding whether to support or oppose issues important to American society.

Clarence married his first wife, Kate Ambush, in 1971. Jamal Adeen was the couple’s only child. They divorced in 1984, with Thomas eventually securing an annulment from the Catholic Church. This encouraged him to resume practicing the religion he had been estranged from for some time, and Clarence is currently a practicing Roman Catholic. Thomas married his second wife, Ginni Lamp, in 1987. Although they had no children, Clarence’s nephew, Mark Elliot Martin, was adopted by the couple when he was six.

YUDDY