So Justice Thomas thinks that Justice O’Connor is a Tough Cookie

January 19th, 2010

Take a look at Joan Biskupic’s great new blog, titled Court Beat.

I love this sketch of CT’s view of O,Connor, J.

When I asked Thomas years earlier about Justice O’Connor, he openly recalled their differences in his first term on the Court, particularly in Wright v. West, the 1992 case regarding procedures for prisoners seeking a federal hearing. He wanted to go much further than O’Connor in curtailing the writ of habeas corpus. O’Connor made clear, behind the scenes and then in a published opinion, that she believed Thomas was misconstruing precedent. Thomas told me: “At first I thought, ‘Whoa, she’s a tough cookie.’ … But they had been working on these [habeas corpus] problems for years and I come marching in like this.” Thomas pumped his arms aggressively for effect. “I was the new kid on the block. I was brash…. I just took it like the rookie football player who gets clobbered by the linebacker: ‘Welcome to the NFL.’”

I interviewed Joan for a JoshCast last month, and thoroughly enjoy her work. Definitely follow this blog.