Justice Clarence Thomas doesn\u2019t say much during oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court. He\u2019s also got a calm demeanor and a hearty laugh.<\/p>\n
He knows the Constitution like the back of his hand. So when a decision is made that seems injurious to the nation\u2019s founding document, he responds like a parent trying to protect a child.<\/p>\n
Thomas took other justices to task on Tuesday after a majority of the court refused to hear a lawsuit brought by Florida against Washington and California:<\/p>\n
Justice Clarence Thomas accused California and Washington of undermining federal immigration and trucking safety standards after a deadly Florida highway crash, blasting the Supreme Court on Tuesday for refusing to hear a case Florida had \u201cnowhere else to bring. \u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, said the Supreme Court had a constitutional obligation to hear the dispute because lawsuits between states can only be brought before the high court.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this Court does not exercise jurisdiction over a controversy between two States, then the complaining State has no judicial forum in which to seek relief,\u201d Thomas wrote.<\/p>\n
Thomas argued that Florida\u2019s allegations against Washington and California were serious because failing to follow federal commercial licensing laws can create dangerous road conditions and, he said, has contributed to deadly crashes.<\/p>\n
People in the country illegally who can\u2019t read road signs in English can\u2019t be allowed to drive 80,000-pound tractor-trailers on American highways, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFederal law and regulations prohibit States from providing commercial driver\u2019s licenses to applicants unless they pass a driver\u2019s test, sufficiently understand the English language, and show appropriate immigration status,\u201d Thomas noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have no more right to decline the exercise of jurisdiction which is given, than to usurp that which is not given,\u201d Thomas wrote.<\/p>\n
More than that, we have seven justices who think it\u2019s okay to ignore a basic function of the high court: Settling disputes between states.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Justice Clarence Thomas doesn\u2019t say much during oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court. He\u2019s also got a calm demeanor and a hearty laugh. He knows the Constitution like the … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n