I had the opportunity to hear from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at a luncheon put together by the Heritage Foundation along with the National Center for Policy Analysis and the Federalist Society. More than 1,500 people were in attendance at the Adam's Mark hotel in downtown Dallas. Justice Thomas was interviewed by governor du Pont about his life and his book, My Grandfather's Son.

He was asked first about the process how the US Supreme Court decides on which case to hear. Petitions are given to the justices. They read up, make their decision and then vote on it in conference, starting with the chief justice going down on seniority. If there are four votes, the case is taken up. The opinions are also derived in similar fashion. There is hardly ever the case of going back and forth in conference between justices, especially under chief justice William Rehnquist. No one justice ever tries to change the opinion of another since it's very much futile. Each justice has come to the opinion he has on a particular case from very widely different approaches.

The justice moved in with his grandfather after his dad left the family. His grandfather was the greatest human being he had ever known. He told justice Thomas to "not do as I say but do as I do, emulate me." That's tremendous responsibility, like the apostle Paul said. His grandfather's mom was the daughter of a free slave but he's not bitter and do not blame the world. In his Catholic school, he learned from the nuns that everyone is inherently equal in the eyes of God. In 1964, he made the decision to become a Catholic priest and went to seminary in Georgia. When Martin Luther King was basically executed, he heard another seminary student, not aware that Thomas was behind him, said "I hope the SOB die." In 1968, Clarence Thomas felt angry and felt justified for it. He later got caught in a riot, actually not caught because he went to the riot. But it wasn't he that did it, it was the alcohol. He credited the maturation process, the growing up that helped him to ask himself why was he angry to the point of self destruction. He asked God to take hate out of his heart. Went to Yale law school. When he graduated from Yale, went to interview in Atlanta, New York, Washington DC, and Los Angeles but didn't get a single offer. That he said cheapen his Yale law degree, not his education at Yale, because some people he helped in law school was hired but he was never considered.

Asked about the confirmation process. Justice Byron White, in whose office he moved in, was nominated and confirmed within ten days. He was justice number 106 on the US Supreme Court so apparently the nation was doing just fine with over one hundred justices before him with not so lengthy confirmation process. The nominees used to not even go to the hearing. It's thought to be beneath the justice to be asked questions by the senators. He wanted us to ask ourselves whether the bitterly drawn out confirmation process of modern time is good for our country. He definitely does not believe in putting people who are interested in a particular outcome to be in charge of selecting someone who, although may be flaw, but must be impartial. He used a rather humorous example. Let's say a referee made a close call on pass interference at last year's red river shoot out game that resulted in the Longhorns losing the game. What are the chances that UT officials would confirm that referee for the game this year? What are the chances that particular referee gets out of Texas alive? He said president Bush asked him but one question, will he call it as he sees it? He's there on the court to interpret the law as it is written, not to be a policy maker.

Justice Thomas vows to himself never to treat anyone the way he was treated during his confirmation process nor would he ever do as poor a job as those people did when he was at their mercy. He believes he owes it to the men and women in uniform to do the best he can on the court to defend freedom, for which they are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. He takes his clerk to Gettysburg at the end of every Supreme Court term so they realize what took place there.

Asked for advice he would give to college student considering law school. He jokingly replied that every time he planned something, it would always end up in a mess. The evidence of there is a God is that God saved him from himself every time. He encourages aspiring law student to put aside the US News and World Report ranking and go to law school that can help them truly get an education. Although 8 of the 9 justices tend to replicate themselves and pick their clerks from the Ivy League law schools, he himself does not.