Clarence Thomas

Justice Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) has been an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1991. He is considered to be part of the "conservative wing" in the current court. He is the second African-American to serve on the nation's highest court (Justice Thurgood Marshall was the first) and, until the appointment of Chief Justice John Roberts in 2005, was the youngest justice.

Personal history

Clarence Thomas was born in Pin Point, Georgia, a small community outside Savannah. His father abandoned his family when he was only a year old and moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, leaving Thomas and his siblings to be taken care of by their mother, Leola Anderson. When Thomas was six, his younger brother accidentally set a fire that burned down the family's house, resulting in a move to a small apartment in Savannah. A year later, they went to live with their mother's father, Myers Anderson. Anderson had a fuel oil business that also sold ice; Thomas often helped him make deliveries.

Related Topics:
Pin Point, Georgia - Savannah - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Leola Anderson - Myers Anderson - Fuel oil

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His grandfather believed in hard work and self-reliance and would counsel him to "never let the sun catch you in bed in the morning". In 1975, when Thomas read Race and Economics by economist Thomas Sowell, he found an intellectual foundation for this philosophy. The book criticized social reforms by government and instead argued for individual action to overcome circumstances and adversity. Thomas later said that the book changed his life.

Related Topics:
1975 - Race and Economics - Thomas Sowell

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Raised Roman Catholic (he later attended an Episcopal church with his wife, but returned to the Catholic Church in the late 1990s), Thomas considered entering the priesthood and briefly attended Immaculate Conception Seminary, a Catholic seminary in Missouri, where he encountered some racism. Thomas later attended College of the Holy Cross, where he co-founded the school's Black Student Union and received an A.B., cum laude.

Related Topics:
Roman Catholic - Episcopal - Catholic - Seminary - Missouri - College of the Holy Cross - A.B. - Cum laude

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Thomas explored his political identity as he was growing up. He flirted with being a leftist in college, but he was subsequently influenced by the Objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand. Later, he gravitated towards conservative viewpoints. He received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Yale Law School in 1974.

Related Topics:
Objectivist philosophy - Ayn Rand - Conservative - Juris Doctor - J.D. - Yale Law School - 1974

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He has married twice, most recently to Virginia Lamp in 1987. He has one child, Jamal Adeen, together with his first wife, Kate Ambush. That marriage lasted from 1971 until their 1984 divorce.

Related Topics:
1987 - Jamal Adeen

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