Litigation

Media Keeps Monitoring Virginia Thomas

By Peter Hardin

Potential judicial issues raised by the activism of Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, head of a lobbying group called Liberty Central and the spouse of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, get another look in a lengthy New York Times article.

The article’s timing appears keyed to Ginni Thomas’ appearance at a large Tea Party conference in Richmond, Va.  The article followed by one day a Times editorial urging stronger recusal policies for Supreme Court justices (see Gavel Grab).

The conservative Mrs. Thomas is playing “the most partisan role ever for a spouse of a justice on the nation?s highest court,” the article states. “But to some people who study judicial ethics,” it adds, “Mrs. Thomas?s activism is raising knotty questions, in particular about her acceptance of large, unidentified contributions for Liberty Central.”

These contributions and Mrs. Thomas leadership of the group have been discussed earlier (see Gavel Grab). The Times does not allege wrongdoing, and it reports that the general counsel for Liberty Central said the group has ?internal reviews and protections to ensure that no donor causes a conflict of interest for either Ginni or her husband.?

Full post as published by The Gavel on October 11, 2010 (boomark / email).