Former US Senator Al Franken took to Twitter to criticize conservative judges over the… US Supreme Court after a majority decision to overthrow Roe v. Wade.
In a series of tweets, the embattled former senator-turned podcast host specifically criticized Judge Clarence Thomas, who believed that undoing the abortion precedent should force his court to consider other important cases as well.
“After overthrowing Roe, Thomas wants to visit Griswold, Lawrence and Obergefell again. How about rethinking Thomas’ conflicts of interest rather than our rights?’ Franken reports this in a tweet on Saturday.
The tweet was a reference to Thomas saying on the 119th page of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health opinion that the court “must reconsider all of the court’s precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence and Obergefell.
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“Because any substantive decision about a fair trial is ‘demonstrably incorrect’… we have a duty to ‘correct the error’ identified in those precedents,” added Thomas.
The business – Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965, Lawrence v. Texas in 2003, and Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015 – concern the rulings respectively legalizing access to contraception without government restrictions, same-sex relationships and marriage equality for gay couples.
The “conflict of interest” comment was likely a reference to Thomas’s wife Gini Thomas, who is a conservative activist.
In three tweets from the day before, Franken accused Judges Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh of “lying” during their hearings.
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The former democratic legislator also urged Democrats “to table a bill that codifies the right to birth control, and in light of Thomas’ consent, marriage equality and privacy.”
“Today’s decision is the culmination of a 50-year project of GOP agents, religious fundamentalists, billionaire oligarchs and right-wing media,” he added in another tweet. “Work, donate, vote!!!”
Franken has resigned from the US Senate in December 2017, amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
Leeann Tweeden, a radio announcer and model, accused him of forcibly kissing her during a USO tour in 2006 and several women, some of whom were unidentified, made similar accusations. He resigned just three weeks after the allegations surfaced.