Clarence Thomas’ messy ass is yet again being called out. This time it comes in the form of a petition demanding his impeachment. Devised by the public policy advocacy group MoveOn, the document has received 1.2 million signatures and calls for Thomas to be impeached or resign, which is possible under the U.S. Constitution.
On June 24, the Supreme Court shared their majority opinion that overturned abortion rights decisions in 1973's Roe v. Wade and 1992's Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The petition has picked up significant momentum since the ruling was published and hit 1 million signatures by July 4.
Thomas supported the Court’s majority opinion, written by Associate Justice Samuel Alito, and then wrote his own concurring opinion which caused outrage. In it, he remained steadfast about examining the rights same sex couples as well as the access to contraception.
The petition states:
“It now says the court is “effectively taking away the right to privacy and bodily autonomy that’s been considered legal precedent for the past 50 years. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas—who sided with the majority on overturning Roe—made it clear what’s next: to overturn high court rulings that establish gay rights and contraception rights.”
The document originally centered on Thomas’ wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, a conservative who was under scrutiny over messages with former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in which she implored him to overturn the election results.
Thomas is the longest-serving member of the Supreme Court as well as the most senior member of its conservative wing. During the 1991 confirmation hearings to the Supreme Court, he faced sexual harassment allegations from Anita Hill. Thomas denied the allegations and called the testimonies against him a “modern-day lynching” of his character.
A Supreme Court justice was impeached only once before but wound up staying in office.