The Supreme Court of the United States has lost legitimacy in the eyes of much of the nation.
As a branch of the government, the institution has gone rogue. Many blame Donald Trump.
Not all of those responsible are the appointments of a seditious and disgraced former president.
Clarence Thomas is eager to roll back more human rights. Between that and his infamous wife’s involvement in January 6, people want him impeached.
Supreme Court Justice are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
It is a lifetime appointment.
There are only a few ways to end a lifetime appointment. The simplest is for the sitting Justice to resign or retire.
That is precisely what hundreds of thousands of petition-signers hope to see Clarence Thomas do.
Millions more Americans, who have not signed or even heard of the petition, hope for the same.
However, unlike countless tone-deaf pundits and Democratic leadership, no one expects Thomas to do the right thing.
The MoveOn petition calls for Clarence Thomas to resign — or for the Congress of the United States to Impeach him.
Impeachment is the second means of removing a sitting Supreme Court Justice.
However, impeachment is relatively rare in the judiciary, and there has only been one SCOTUS impeachment in history.
Samuel Chase was impeached in 1804, accused of political bias leading to arbitrary and oppressive conduct.
He was, however, acquitted in 1805, and continued to serve on the bench until he passed away in 1811.
Even if Congress somehow mustered the unlikely courage to file articles of impeachment, would anything come of it?
Probably not.
Feckless partisans in Congress, too fearful of being primaried by Trump loyalists, protected the now-disgraced former president for both of his impeachments.
But it was important to hold Trump accountable then. It is important to hold Thomas accountable now.
At present, SCOTUS represents a clear and present danger to the people of the United States of America.
The abolition of human rights with Roe v Wade. The gutting of voting rights. Curbing the EPA’s power. All but erasing the Establishment Clause.
If a foreign power were endangering so many American lives on American soil, that nation would meet catastrophe.
But Thomas is not new to the court. He has haunted SCOTUS like a bad dream for decades.
In fact, the court has had a conservative majority for many years.
So what has changed?
What has changed is that fringe-right extremists now make up one third of that once-august body.
Some of the worst fixtures in the American judicial system, they were selected by the Federalist Society and Mitch McConnell.
The primary goal was, simply put, the unraveling of human rights as we know them in America. And it’s working.
Thomas has indicated an almost gleeful desire to undo even more landmark human rights cases.
Given his way, he would like to undo not only marriage equality, but allow states to openly discriminate against same-sex relationships.
It is Thomas’ open eagerness to do so that builds so much of the case for his removal.
However, the petition cites another significant factor: Ginni Thomas.
There is ample evidence illustrating Ginni’s involvement in the tragic and seditious events of January 6, 2021.
While Clarence Thomas is not responsible for his wife’s behavior, it must be part of the conversation.
Removing Clarence Thomas from SCOTUS will not automatically reverse his catastrophic decisions.
It will also not remove the three Trump-appointed Justices, whose presence dangerously undermines the court’s semblance of legitimacy.
Is removing Thomas the right thing? Is expanding the court? Both? Whatever the answer, POTUS and Congress must do something.
