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General News    H2'ed 1/24/11

Did Clarence Thomas Commit a Federal Crime by Hiding Wife's Income?

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Message Roger Shuler


Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas did not report almost $700,000 of his wife's income on financial disclosure forms, according to a report from Common Cause and The Los Angeles Times.


Virginia Thomas earned $686,589 over a five-year period (2003-07) from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, according to a review of IRS records by the watchdog group Common Cause. Federal judges are required by law to disclose "spousal non-investment income," but Clarence Thomas checked "none" for the years in question.

Does this mean a justice on the nation's highest court has committed a crime? The answer probably is yes. Will the legal system kick into high gear in an effort to protect one of its most exalted members? The answer to that definitely is yes--in fact, it already seems to be happening.

Steven Lubet, an expert on judicial ethics at Northwestern University School of Law, said Thomas committed a minor oversight that is unlikely to result in any penalty. Reports the LA Times:

Although unfamiliar with the complaint about Thomas' forms, Lubet said failure to disclose spousal income "is not a crime of any sort, but there is a potential civil penalty" for failing to follow the rules. He added: "I am not aware of a single case of a judge being penalized simply for this."

Lubet might want to try telling that to Rachelle Thomas-Zuill, a former FBI employee in San Francisco, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to making false statements to a government agency, which is a felony.

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I live in Birmingham, Alabama, and work in higher education. I became interested in justice-related issues after experiencing gross judicial corruption in Alabama state courts. This corruption has a strong political component. The corrupt judges are (more...)
 
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