US Supreme Court Justice breaks silence ten years

Known for not questioning lawyers during hearings at most American court, Clarence Thomas makes his first question since February 2006 and astonishes in court.



"Miss Eisenstein, a question," interfered the judge Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court of the United States, during a hearing on Monday (29/02). The statement caused astonishment among those present - ten years ago the judge did not ask questions in court.

Ilana Eisenstein was the lawyer who received the honor of the rare words of the judge. During the hearing, she defended a federal law to ban the purchase of firearms - a right of American citizens - for those who have been convicted of domestic violence.

Eisenstein had already answered a barrage of questions from other judges when Thomas took her by surprise. "Can you give me another example in which a crime of minor offensive potential suspends constitutional right?" She asked the conservative.

Sitting next to the empty chair Antonin Scalia, another conservative icon on the main American court, who died last month, Thomas found himself not satisfied and asked more questions for a few minutes, as if suddenly had regained speech.

The last time the magistrate had pronounced in the court to make inquiries was on February 22, 2006, a case concerning the death penalty in the state of North Carolina. Since then, she broke the silence only once, in January 2013, but only to make a humorous comment during a hearing.

Learning silent
Silence Thomas, appointed by President George Bush in 1991 and the only black among the Supreme Court justices, became curious over the years.

In earlier statements, he said he did not need to ask questions in court because the cases are already well informed in writing processes. The judge also said that his colleagues interrupt other lawyers, which "does not help" at all in the presentation of cases.

In 2000, however, Thomas has a more personal reason for his reluctance to speak. Born in Georgia, the magistrate said he was very shy in childhood because of the "kind of dialect" he learned from his grandparents.

To avoid mockery of his colleagues, he was silent.
"I started to develop the habit of listening ... I did not ask questions at school or law school. I could learn better just listening," said Thomas to a group of students for 16 years. After the pronouncement of the second, a change of habit was to come?