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Thomas said in a new book that Americans have seemingly “lost interest” in constitutional matters.
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“They are more interested in what they want than what is right as a country,” he said in the book.
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Thomas said Scalia shared similar feelings about the lack of urgency in protecting liberties.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in a new book expressed his “disappointment” that more Americans are no longer constitutionally aligned and remain vigilant about protecting freedoms.
In the book“Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words”, edited by Michael Pack and Mark Paoletta, Thomas was interviewed by Pack for over 30 hours between November 2017 and March 2018, in what became a comprehensive addition to the documentary of 2020 with the same name.
During the conversation, Thomas said that people seem to pay less attention to the Constitution.
“I think we as citizens have lost interest and that was my disappointment. That was definitely something that bothered Justice Scalia, that people are more interested in their iPhones than their constitution. They are interested in what they want rather than what is straight as a country,” he said.
When Pack asked whether the loss of interest among the general population is “a burden on the Supreme Court,” Thomas disagreed.
“No, it’s a burden for them, the citizens,” he said. “They are going to lose their freedoms.”
When asked if the Supreme Court served to protect liberties, Thomas said the nine-member body was just “part of the effort.”
“You protect your freedom. It is your country. We are part of the effort and it is the duty of the citizens to at least know what their freedoms are and be informed,” he said.
He added: “I think we let ourselves rule if we turn all that over to someone else and we say, ‘Govern me.’ Does this mean we get to make all the decisions? No. We have a system in place to do that, but part of it is our role in it, and our informed role in it, not what is said on TV, not what is said by a half-informed person.”
Last week, Thomas played a key role in overturning Roe v. Wade — the 1973 decision that legalized abortion in the United States and provided a constitutional right to the procedure.
The Supreme Court ruled Friday 6-3 to uphold an abortion ban in Mississippi, while voting 5-4 against: overthrow Roe.
The decision on abortion rights now rests with the states; 13 states had “trigger laws” in situ which effectively banned abortion procedures immediately after the court overturned Roe.
Thomas in his unanimous opinion wrote that the court should “reconsider” previous rulings on birth control, same-sex relationships, and same-sex marriage by stating that cases related to the 14th Amendment’s due process clause should be reviewed.
Read the original article Business Insider