Justice Thomas blasted for opposing new hearing for Black death row inmate

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, whose nomination hearings made international news nearly three decades ago and a frequent critic of race-based initiatives and programs like affirmative action, was sharply criticized last week for voting against a new hearing for a Black death row inmate from Texas who contends that his trial was tainted by inappropriate testimony about his race.

The Associated Press reported that last month the justices voted 6-2 in favor of inmate Duane Buck. Buck had tried for years to get federal courts to look at his claim that his rights were violated when jurors were told by a defense expert witness that Buck was more likely to be dangerous in the future because he is Black.

Chief Justice John Roberts said in his majority opinion that the federal appeals court that heard Buck’s case was wrong to deny him a hearing.

In Texas death penalty trials, one of the “special issues” jurors must consider when deciding punishment is whether the defendant they’ve convicted would be a future danger.

Roberts wrote that the testimony of Dr. Walter Quijano “was potent evidence. Dr. Quijano’s testimony appealed to a powerful racial stereotype — that of Black men as ‘violence prone.”

Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented. “Having settled on a desired outcome, the court bulldozes procedural obstacles and misapplies settled law to justify it,” Thomas said.

In the wake of the ruling, Justice Thomas was sharply criticized by some legislators and justice advocates for once again being on what some have described as “the wrong side of justice.”

“Justice Thomas’ failure to recognize racial bias in this case exemplifies what is wrong with our criminal justice system,” said U.S. Rep. Richmond, a New Orleans-born Democrat who currently serves as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. “Race plays an outsized role in the courts from the charge to sentencing and feeds the mass incarceration epidemic that is eroding families throughout the United States.

I am not surprised by Justice Thomas’ lack of awareness, I remain frustrated that the lone African-American judge on our nation’s highest court continuously ignores the lived experience of everyday Black Americans and stands in the way of justice.”

This article originally published in the March 6, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.