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A Pulitzer-winning deep dive into the Supreme Court scandal (Pt 3): Clarence Thomas Had a Child in Private School. Harlan Crow Paid the Tuition. (www.propublica.org)

submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by [email protected] to c/longreads

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This is Part 3 of a Pulitzer-winning ongoing series exploring the financial scandal surrounding the Supreme Court. For the other parts, or to discuss the series as a whole, click here.

Crow paid for private school for a relative Thomas said he was raising “as a son.” “This is way outside the norm,” said a former White House ethics lawyer.

In 2008, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas decided to send his teenage grandnephew to Hidden Lake Academy, a private boarding school in the foothills of northern Georgia. The boy, Mark Martin, was far from home. For the previous decade, he had lived with the justice and his wife in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Thomas had taken legal custody of Martin when he was 6 years old and had recently told an interviewer he was “raising him as a son.”

Tuition at the boarding school ran more than $6,000 a month. But Thomas did not cover the bill. A bank statement for the school from July 2009, buried in unrelated court filings, shows the source of Martin’s tuition payment for that month: the company of billionaire real estate magnate Harlan Crow.

Archive link: https://archive.ph/pueWX

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago (2 children)

These ProPublica reports need to be shared almost as much as project 2025. It’s horrible blatant corruption that needs a light shone on it. And the message is clear, another 4 years of Donald Trump could land us up to 3 more justices just like this. We’d be digging a hole we’d be stuck in for the next 40 years.

This also begs the question of what do we do about Thomas? Unfortunately with a republican majority in congress, they’d have to see him as so toxic to their election that they’d have to make the choice to remove him (less than 0% chance). That leaves us with only one option: vote vote vote! This isn’t just a Trump Biden election. This is for the ability to hold people accountable using congress and the senate too.

And let’s say we see a blue wave and we have enough to begin impeachment process against Thomas and/or Alito. Our job isn’t done then either. We need to raise hell with our representatives in government to make sure they know that it’s unacceptable to have such blatant corruption in our courts and that holding them accountable should be one of the highest priorities. That’s the only way (within our system) to start making change happen. It’s slow and frustrating at times, and it requires a constant commitment, but it still is possible when our reps feel enough pressure.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

And let’s say we see a blue wave and we have enough to begin impeachment process against Thomas and/or Alito.

While those are the two to start with, all six of the Republican nominated judges were of the opinion that the president is a king and must be impeached and removed from the court.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Agreed. However swapping 2 judges makes it a 5-4 liberal majority. Like you said, that’s only a start but would have huge ramifications.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

If we can impeach two for trying to start a dictatorship we can impeach all six.

That is an even bigger deal than being bought out.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

The sad reality is democrats need to remember that the presidency holds the keys to our judicial system and thus our rights. The GOP figured that out first and have a decades-long headstart.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Biden never uses his bully pulpit to draw attention to any of these things, even though that's the best way to have everyone be aware of the corruption.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

Agreed, but living through the 2016 years, I did see how a groundswell of public opinion can sway the priorities of congress. It just takes a lot of people pushing.

The president absolutely should be beating the drum on these things. But I guess I’m focused on the levers that we as citizens can pull to avoid that feeling of powerlessness.