Today’s blacklisted American: Supreme Court Justice Thomas forced to quit as lecturer at GWU – Behind The Black – Robert Zimmerman

Blacklists are back and our future law students love ’em: Faced with a petition signed by 11,000 individuals demanding he be fired, Supreme Court Justice Thomas has resigned as a lecturer at George Washington University (GWU).

Thomas has been a lecturer at the school since 2011, but has now been removed as faculty from its website. His decision not to return to teaching comes in the wake of protests against conservative supreme court judges following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022. 

The school was hit by a petition calling for the removal of Thomas, with more than 11,000 signatories. But George Washington University is home to just 1,600 students, and bosses there defended Thomas, insisting he was entitled to his views. [emphasis mine]

The highlighted words illustrate something significant: The bulk of the petition’s signers were not from George Washington University. However, though the school had apparently supported Thomas during this affair, we do not know how many of its 1,600 students signed the petition. What we do know is that there did not seem to be much public support for him from those students.

It is hard to fathom any law student not wanting to meet in person and hear the legal opinions of a Supreme Court justice, no matter where he or she stands on the political spectrum. To try to block such lectures reveals a shocking close-mindedness and hostility to rational thought. The language of the petition illustrates this, filled with false statements, ad hominen attacks, and complete intolerance of other points of view:…