printer friendly version
Sen. Reid calls Justice Thomas 'an embarrassment'
Monday, December 6, 2004
Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada), the incoming minority leader in the Senate, called Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas "an embarrassment" and said he wouldn't back him as Chief Justice.
"I think that he has been an embarrassment to the Supreme Court. I think that his opinions are poorly written. I just don't think that he's done a good job as a Supreme Court justice," Reid said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.
Thomas, the only African-American on the court, has been suggested as possible replacement for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who has been the subject of speculation because he hasn't returned to session in recent weeks. Rehnquist is recovering from a cancer-related surgery.
Justice Antonin Scalia has also been suggested as a replacement. Reid said he didn't agree with his opinions but called him "one smart guy."
Rehnquist, Scalia and Thomas almost always rule against tribes in Indian law cases. Earlier this year, Thomas wrote an opinion in the
U.S. v. Lara case that questioned tribal sovereignty.
"As this case should make clear, the time has come to reexamine the premises and logic of our tribal sovereignty cases," he wrote. The case involved whether tribes have the inherent authority to prosecute and try members of other tribes for criminal acts.
Get the Story:
Reid: Democrats Will Fight on Key Issues
(The Washignton Post 12/6)
Username:
indianz@indianz.com, Password:
indianz
Related Stories:
U.S. Supreme Court asked to rule on state
taxation (12/02)
Peabody takes coal lease dispute to high court
(12/01)
Rehnquist won't return to court until next
year (11/29)
Hearing set for Oneida
Nation treaty rights case (11/12)
Tribal
contracts pose conflict for U.S. Supreme Court (11/10)
Court to hear self-determination contract case
(11/9)
Supreme Court takes action on
Indian law cases (11/02)
Mille Lacs
diminishment case before Supreme Court (10/22)
South Dakota challenge to tribes rejected by high
court (10/19)
Tribes file briefs in
Oneida Nation land case (10/18)
Court
won't rehear challenge to tribal land base (05/21)
Supreme Court to resolve self-determination
dispute (03/23)
Supreme Court affirms tribal powers over all Indians (04/20)
Minn. tribe wins
another round in reservation dispute (03/10)
Supreme Court weighs self-determination dispute
(03/09)
Copyright © 2000-2004 Indianz.Com
