What Thomas is really like

Holy Cross alumnus petitions for college to rescind Justice Thomas' honorary degree
Cyrus Moulton

Telegram & Gazette
WORCESTER — A Holy Cross alumnus is petitioning to have the college rescind its 2012 honorary degree to fellow alum and Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, citing Thomas’ refusal to recuse himself from cases involving the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The petition cites the justice's wife's alleged involvement in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

“Whether Justice Thomas actually knew of his spouse's communications with the White House on matters that were all-but-certain to come before the Supreme Court is not, in fact, the issue. And, of course as a U.S. citizen, Mrs. Thomas is fully entitled to participate in political action and advocacy however she wishes, within the limits of the law,” George Grattan, a member of the College of the Holy Cross Class of 1991, wrote in a petition on Change.org.

“Justice Thomas is, however, rightly held to a high standard: he must avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest, in the eyes of a reasonable person. He has clearly failed in that responsibility. As a graduate of Holy Cross and Yale University Law School, and as an experienced attorney and jurist, Justice Thomas has no excuse for not fully understanding the importance of this standard, and no excuse for failing to meet it. He is no longer a worthy recipient of an honorary degree from the College of the Holy Cross, and the institution should state so publicly and withdraw the honor, as soon as possible.”

College: No plans to take away degree

Asked about the petition, a college spokesman said: “We are not considering rescinding any honorary degrees at this time.”
Justice Thomas could not be reached for comment through the Supreme Court.
Virginia, “Ginni,” Thomas, Justice Thomas’ wife, did not respond to a request for comment through the Heritage Foundation.
Justice Thomas graduated from Holy Cross in 1971 and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 2012.
The Supreme Court does not have a code of ethics and it is up to individual justices to recuse themselves from a case.
Justice Thomas has faced calls that he recuse himself from Jan. 6 cases since it was revealed in March by The Washington Post and CBS News that Virginia Thomas sent texts to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows pressuring him to keep former President Donald J. Trump in office despite his defeat in the 2020 election and to convince the president to refuse to concede. The messages also included false claims and conspiracy theories, and Virginia Thomas has said she attended the rally prior to the Capitol riot.

The Supreme Court did not step into any election cases brought by Trump and other Republicans. However, Justice Thomas took part in the consideration of whether to hear those cases. He also was the lone vote to keep House lawmakers investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot from obtaining contested White House documents.

Petition had slow start
Grattan said in an interview that he started the petition in March and it hovered at fewer than 100 signatories for months. In the last couple of days, however, the petition was shared on campus and the numbers of signatures grew to over 300. There were 325 signatures as of midday Monday.
Grattan emphasized that he focused specifically and solely on the perceived conflict of interest because he believed that it represented a non-partisan issue.
"My petition…is very specifically about one very clear and strong failure to uphold the necessary professional and ethical judiciary standards,” Grattan said.
Grattan also emphasized that Ginni Thomas had the same rights as he did to be a political activist and that the petition was not about her.
“I don’t have standing with her except as a fellow citizen,” Grattan said. “But as a member of the Holy Cross community, I can say please rescind this honor, (Justice Thomas) has ceased to earn it.”
Other members of the Holy Cross community, however, cited not only Justice Thomas’ failure to recuse himself, but his controversial career as a Supreme Court justice — including his recent vote to strike down Roe vs. Wade — as reasons for signing the petition.

'Stain on the legacy'
“He has a pattern, it’s so obvious to tell,” said Nick Lazzaro, a rising senior at the college and a member of the Millbury School Committee.
He cited Thomas’ confirmation hearings when the future justice was accused of sexual harassment in 1991. Lazzaro also described the decision to strike down Roe v. Wade — along with Thomas’ concurrent opinion seeking to “reconsider” cases allowing gay marriage, same-sex intimacy and contraception — as the “nail in the coffin.”
“Clarence Thomas, time and time again, has been riddled with scandals,” Lazzaro said. “We see how adults act and we’re not dumb. Adults have an example to set and we’re watching everything they do. When that behavior doesn’t get accounted for, it leaves further opportunities for abuse to happen down the road.”

Lazzaro said Justice Thomas had become, “a stain on the legacy of Holy Cross.
“I think it’s really important that Holy Cross severs ties from an individual who has absolutely no regard for the Jesuit values it holds, which include advocating for social justice, advocating for LGBTQ rights, advocating for racial minorities and the rights of women,” Lazzaro said. “I think some Jesuits would disagree with me on that, but I don’t care what they think.”
Grattan acknowledged that the petition was a “long shot.” Holy Cross has never rescinded an honorary degree, according to its spokesman. But recently a petition circulated in the Holy Cross community calling for Diocese of Worcester Bishop Robert J. McManus to be disinvited from commencement in light of the controversy over the Nativity School of Worcester flying Pride and Black Lives Matter flags. McManus announced he would not attend.
“I understand it is a symbolic gesture and it is totally separate from what may or may not have come before Justice Thomas on the court in the past or come in future,” Grattan said. But he added, “this is about what Holy Cross stands for at its best.”

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.



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