Yet another Supreme Court scandal has blown up with reports that Justice Clarence Thomas apparently violated ethics laws by accepting luxury trips from billionaire and GOP donor Harlan Crow, estimated at circa $500,000, for more than two decades without disclosing them. A ProPublica report said “The extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court.”
In recent months, SCOTUS has faced increasing scrutiny over a range of ethical issues, including the lack of transparency surrounding potential conflicts of interest and a whistleblower’s claim that wealthy Christian activists sought access to justices at social gatherings to shore up their resolve on abortion and other conservative priorities. Thomas recently failed to recuse himself in a case involving the plot to subvert the 2020 election outcome in Arizona, even though his wife, Virginia Thomas, advocated for such subversion.
A Senate investigation of this instance could help demonstrate the need for Supreme Court ethics reform with stricter rules for Supreme Court Justices.
What is noteworthy is that the SCOTUS Pluto in Aquarius (conjunct the Sun) is at 18 degrees and therefore due for a monumental shake up come late April/into early May, so it may not be possible to sweep this one aside. Tr Neptune is also conjunct the Venus from early May onwards, which is a continuation of tr Neptune conjunct the SCOTUS Saturn last year – a two year stretch of its reputation taking a considerable hit from a disappointed public.
John Roberts, 27 January 1955, the chief justice who was recently sounding aggrieved at the criticism being aimed at the Supreme Court is continuing through a confusing 2023 with tr Pluto square his Neptune with jolts and jangles from this June onwards, more so in 2024.
Clarence Thomas, 23 June 1948 9 pm Pin Point, Georgia, is a Sun Venus Mercury in Cancer with a tough-minded, extra-stubborn Saturn Pluto in Leo squaring his Taurus North Node; an Aquarius Moon on his Ascendant; and an opportunistic Jupiter in Sagittarius opposition Uranus squaring on to a secretive Mars in his financial 8th. At the moment his Solar Arc Saturn is square his Moon (birth time being accurate) putting a damper on his public image. Tr Neptune is continuing to wend round his Jupiter, Uranus, Mars T Square from last year which is not only undermining to morale and high hopes, it can drag grubby secrets out into the open. Plus his Solar Arc Neptune is conjunct his Jupiter over coming months. Tr Saturn is moving into the lowest dip of his First Quadrant which is often when banana skins crop up, misjudgments abound and failure looms. His Saturn will also rattle up a few tense eruptions from mid May onwards as tr Uranus collides by square. Much of the same rolls on through 2024 with worse in 2025 as tr Neptune Saturn in Aries square his Sun, Mercury, Venus in Cancer and tr Uranus detonates one of his disaster midpoints.
Ginni Thomas, his wife, 23 February 1957, is a Pisces Sun in a controlling opposition to Pluto and an evasive trine to Neptune; with her Neptune in a can-be-fanatical square to Uranus. She looks more stressed in 2024/25 than now. Though her relationship chart with Clarence does indicate that 18 degrees Fixed is a key component – with a composite Pluto opposition the North Node at 18 Aquarius. That is being upended by tr Uranus at the end of this month into May and again from mid June onwards.
This spate of bad publicity may not bring a wholesale clean up of SCOTUS but there are rumblings in the undergrowth.
Please do updates!
We e now learned that the rich friend has a collection of Nazi relics & trinkets & memorabilia of a variety of dictators & other authoritarian leaders
1. What type of person collects such stuff
2. What kind of person goes near, much less befriends some with such a collection?
Nazis were a sadistic death cult-true evil. Collecting, purchasing mementos is depraved.
And
The friend gave seed money to Ginni Thomas’ organization (promoting theocracy) & she receives $120,000 annually. This was not claimed by Thomas.
The holier than thou who wish to impose their theocracy have issues with honesty (isn’t lying a sin?)
It’s not bad publicity, it’s journalists digging in-bravo for them!
Can you tell us about Harlan Crow-Thomas’ buddy with the generous friend gifts?
I’m curious what astrological make-up a person who collects Nazi stuff has in their chart. (He could have purchased every Picasso!)
Even politics aside, there are 2 justices (Thomas, Kavanaugh) with a history of sexual harassment but were nevertheless confirmed. So it’s not the least surprising if some, like Thomas, has a habit with skirting the law.
The framers of the US Constitution made an enormous mistake giving SCOTUS unchecked power for a lifetime, when they were so concerned about checks and balances elsewhere. Maybe because many of them were lawyers and thought highly of themselves and their peers? European friends didn’t understand why we are so upset when Kavanaugh was confirmed, until the recent Dobbs decision, which they also didn’t understand SCOTUS could actually enact and retain in most Americans’ lifetime, and beyond if something doesn’t change. Because this would be unimaginable in a Western European democracy
Thanks very much Marjorie for covering this. This News only just broke yesterday and
right on time as outlined in your June 25 , 2022 post on Scotus:
“The disruptive tr Uranus square the SCOTUS Pluto picks up from July 8th and runs through till mid October, returning in early 2023”.
There are calls for investigation into the matter and for a stronger ethics code for the justices. There are some major consequential cases currently pending including on race, immigration, and LGBTQ rights. All while approval ratings continue to be at record lows in recent polls and respondents think politics motivates Supreme Court decisions more often than the law.