Justice Thomas

It's the end of Day 2! Throughout my time here in DC, I'll be missing part of the day in Congressman Altmire's office to go to different events organized by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation. This morning was the first such event. We went to the Supreme Court and got to hear Justice Clarence Thomas speak. When I was here in 2002, I got to hear Justice Stephen Breyer speak. Justice Thomas began his time on the Supreme Court in 1991. He is currently the only African American member of the Court. When we entered the Supreme Court we were ushered into a large wood-paneled room with paintings of previous Supreme Court Justices on the walls. We were told that we should stand when the Justice came into the room and that he would prefer that we didn't take pictures. Justice Thomas spoke to us for about 40 minutes and then answered questions. I took a whole bunch of notes while he was speaking so that I could share some highlights with you. One of the first things he explained was that though all the Justices may have different opinions on a particular issue, they all respect each other's views. Justice Thomas sits next to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who is currently the only woman on the Court. They generally interpret the law in different ways but he said they have great respect for each other as people. Justice Thomas explained that the Supreme Court receives 9,000 petitions a year, but that they only hear around 75-80 cases. He has four law clerks who help him analyze briefs and research relevant cases.

During the round of questioning, one of the teachers said that her students often ask why Supreme Court Justices serve for life and are not part of the democractic process. She wondered how he would answer this question. I smiled at this question since I knew we had learned about this in class! He answered by referring to a case from 1896 called Plessy v. Ferguson. In this case, the Supreme Court essentially ruled that racial segregation, even in public accomodations (such as railroads), was constitutional under the "separate but equal" argument. The idea of "separate but equal" was not reversed until 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education. In the Plessy v. Ferguson case, the "dissent" (or disagreement with the ruling), was written by Justice John Harlan. In his dissent, Justice Harlan explained "But in view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law." In other words, he argued that segregation should not be legal. However, the Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson allowed segregation to continue until 1954. Justice Thomas then explained that Supreme Court decisions cannot be left to the democracy. If democracy had decided the ruling in 1954, he explained, we would still have segregation. He then asked the question, "How do you protect individual rights against the majority if the majority always votes on it?" In other words, as we talked about, the Justices need to be free to base their decisions on the Constitution, and not necessarily on what the people want. According to Justice Thomas, in 1954, a majority of the people would have wanted segregation to continue. So appointing Supreme Court Justices for life allows them to make decisions based on the Constitution, and independent of popular bias.

At the end of the time with Justice Thomas, he told us about how he still visits and keeps in touch with his 8th grade teacher, who is 95 now. He said she ruled by "pure fear," and that "you could hear a gnat tiptoe across cotton in that room." But it was she and the other teachers he had who made him think that with an education, anything was possible. It made me think how nice it would be if some of you would visit me when I turn 95!

After the Supreme Court, I returned to Congressman Altmire's office. For most of the afternoon I worked on writing three different letters responding to e-mails from constituents. It was easier to write the letters today since I had already done one yesterday. I also found them a little easier since all three dealt with education.

In the middle of the afternoon, I met with the two Legislative Assistants who handle Congressman Altmire's assignment on the House Committee on Education and Labor. They spoke with me on the ways I might get involved this summer in legislation on education. I'll tell you more about this as events unfold. But right now, I have a meeting scheduled on Friday with a staffer for Representative Woolsey, who recently proposed the following bill: H.R.3606: To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide grants for core curriculum development. This bill includes the Access to Complete Education Act - which "amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to promote and strengthen as an integral part of the curriculum one or more of the subjects of music and arts, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, history, geography, and physical education and health." The Act "gives priority to LEAs that have greatest numbers or percentages of children from families below the poverty line." It also, "requires grantees to coordinate, to the extent practicable, their programs to promote or strengthen education in such subjects with opportunities provided by public or private cultural entities, including museums, education associations, libraries, and theaters." One drawback of No Child Left Behind is that some school districts are getting rid of music and art. This bill would address this issue. I'll let you know what happens!

Today I spoke with two more people in Congressman Altmire's office whose positions I didn't tell you about yesterday. One is the Legislative Correspondent. The Legislative Correspondent was extremely helpful to me today when I was writing the letters. Her primary job is to manage all of the responses to the letters, e-mails, and phone calls coming in from constituents. The other person I spoke with today was Congressman Altmire's Legislative Director. He's the expert in the office. He explained to me today why everyone in the office was so excited about a bill that just passed the house today. Congressman Altmire had contributed some amendments to this bill. Remember that I taught you that Congress can override a presidential veto with a 2/3 vote? Well, this bill passed the house with more than a 2/3 vote! Now it gets sent to the Senate. Since the House passed it with more than 2/3, the Senate is now more likely to do so. The part that he explained to me was the complicated part about how they got this bill to pass the House (this is why he's one of the experts around here). The House can vote on what are called "suspension bills." A "suspension bill" is when they suspend the rules during debate on a bill which prevents anyone from adding amendments to a bill. One of the things the opposition often tries to do is add an amendment to a bill that would make the bill impossible to pass. By suspending the rules to prevent these amendments, the bill is more likely to pass. This is what the House did today. The Senate needs 60 votes for "cloture," which ends debate on a bill. I'll let you know what happens.

Tomorrow I'm going to get to go to an actual "Mark-Up" Meeting of the Committee on Education and Labor. So I'll actually get to see the Representatives discussing amendments to a bill. For me it will be very exciting. As usual, I plan to take a lot of notes. So stay tuned to hear about that tomorrow.

Thank you for all of your wonderful comments on the blog! Let's see if I can briefly answer those couple questions. First of all, ALL FIVE classes are my FAVORITE. I'm voting 60 times and calling for cloture on that. End of debate. Thank you first period -- I appreciate that you appreciate all the work I do. Period 2 - Yay for Deanna on the runners knot! Period 5 -- glad you liked my explanation about the buzzers. The dorms at Georgetown are actually pretty nice. Mine is carpeted. Since I'm a Congressional Fellow, they gave me a room with a private bathroom, which is nice. Period 6 -- the constituents' letters deal with every topic you can imagine. Many of them refer to specific bills under debate in Congress, such as ones dealing with veterans benefits, healthcare issues, and drilling for oil. I even read one that said a law should be passed that abolishes homework. I thought you'd like that one. Period 7 - My last day in the office is July 17 and I leave for Pittsburgh on July 18. The traffic is not too bad. I take a shuttle bus from Georgetown to the metro (subway) station in Rosslyn, which is in Virginia. Then I ride the metro to the Capitol South stop. The Longworth Building is right near that stop. So it's nice to commute without having to drive.

More tomorrow! :o)