Clarence Thomas breaks silence at Supreme Court
US Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas (L) and Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia participate in the courts official photo session on October 8, 2010 at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC.
Clarence Thomas has broken his nearly seven year silence at Supreme Court.
According to the Associated Press, Thomas appeared to make some jokes about Yale University, which just happens to be his alma mater. However, lawyers in the Supreme Court room during oral arguments said the joke was actually about rival Harvard.
Before Thomas spoke in Boyer v. Louisiana, Justice Antonin Scalia asked Louisiana state's attorney about the competency and experience of the defendant's lawyer, the Huffington Post reported.
After Scalia was told that the lawyers went to Harvard and Yale law schools, Scalia reportedly said, "Son of a gun."
According to the transcript, Thomas added "Well… he did not," followed by what lawyers at the Supreme Court said was laughter.
Louisiana lawyer Carla Sigler replied, "I would refute that, Justice Thomas."
New York University law student Billy Freeland who heard the arguments tweeted:
@joshmblackman Defendant had 3 lawyers. 1 was from YLS. 1 was from Harvard. Scalia quipped, "Sonofagun"
Justice Thomas has not asked a question in the high court since February 2006.
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