When I was working on yesterday's post about the Supreme Court and originalism, I came across a fact I never knew that seems particularly relevant these days. It's also a mark of how things have changed in the age of Clarence Thomas and today's Republican Party.
In the article I cited about Roberts v. United States Jaycees, I learned the origins of the case. Two chapters of Minnesota Jaycees had tried to admit women as full members. Because of that, the national organization threatened to revoke their charters, which only allowed women as auxiliaries. The Minnesota chapters sued under Minnesota state law, which prohibited sex discrimination in membership organizations.
When the case reached the Supreme Court, two members of the court were from Minnesota: Harry Blackmun and Warren Burger. Both of them recused themselves.
They recused themselves because they were from Minnesota.
And today we have Clarence Thomas, who will not recuse himself from cases where his own wife is directly involved in the topic in question.
In case anyone wondered how much things have changed.
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