The Clarence Thomas - Leah Ward Sears Friendship

I have previously noted that Leah Ward Sears is a serious contender for Justice Souter's Supreme Court seat.  According to the Washington Post, Justice Sears may need to worry that her friendship with Justice Thomas could undermine her bid to join the Supreme Court.  According to the story, Thomas reached out to Sears during the early 1990's when she was facing political attacks in Georgia.  Sears, who terms herself a moderate with a progressive streak, was apparently touched buy Thomas' interest - and became friends with Thomas.  According to the WaPo:

It affected her that he would take the time to comfort her in that situation," said Bernard Taylor, an Atlanta lawyer and longtime friend of Sears, now chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court and a potential nominee to replace retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter. "They're still friends."

I wonder how the two might interact on the Court.  We know that they have very different views on some hot-button topics.  I assume that liberals worry that Thomas could sway Sears, moving his junior colleague to the right.  But it seems equally conceivable that the opposite could happen - Thomas might open his mind to certain perspectives when argued by a person who he respects.  And the highest odds of all are that the two of them will retain their personal views, and maintain a friendship.  Scalia and Ginsburg don't seem to have had a problem with this. 

Comments

[Rick Garnett]

I think the Thomas-Sears friendship says good things about both of them (e.g., they are warm and decent people, for whom friendship is not reducible to ideological overlap), and the surprise at the friendship in some quarters reflects sad things about those quarters. But, I'm skeptical of the influence-thesis, in either direction. After all, it's not as if Justice Thomas has not heard strong arguments, by people he respects, contrary to the positions he holds. And, I assume (I hope!) the same is true of Justice Sears.

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