Clarence Thomas: Originalist, Eccentric

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ devotion to upholding a fundamentalist interpretation of the Constitution has led him to become “unquestionably eccentric,” Cass R. Sunstein writes in Bloomberg. Among other things, Thomas has said he believes states may establish official religions, the First Amendment forbids regulating advertising and campaign contributions, and that prisoners and students have no free speech rights. Sunstein compares Thomas to William O. Douglas, a Supreme Court justice in the mid-20^th century, who also had a singular interpretation of U.S. law, but at the other end of the spectrum.