Stay updated with breaking news from Yo rachel. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
clarence thomas, mr. crow's old friend on the supreme court. heard about that new multimillion dollar museum being built in clarence thomas' hometown? joining us now, attorney, blogger for the center for american progress. ian, thanks for your time. >> good to be here, thank you, rachel. >> you wrote today in think progress about these revelations in the times. and other things we've learned about justice thomas and you compared him to former supreme court justice abe fortis. that is a pretty staggering blow to levy at any sitting justice. why did you make that comparison? >> because they have so much in common. justice fortis was disgraced and forced to resign because he was caught in a gifting scandal. that was a coalition of wealthy businessmen who gave him thousands of dollars and
this is why republicans have paid so much attention to who gets on the courts. at the end of the bush administration 10 of the 13 federal courts of appeals had republican appointed majorities. 10 of the 13. when barack obama came into office nearly 60% of all active federal judges were appointed by republican presidents. that's why the republicans in washington are doing everything they can to stop president obama's nominees. yes, it is about denying the president a victory and denying the president just something, anything that he wants. but it is also about the rick scots of the world. it is about protecting things like rick scott's little forced drug testing thing in florida. isn't it? joinings now is nan aron, president for alliance of justice. thank you for joining us tonight. happy to have you here. >> hi, rachel. glad to be here. >> thank you. when republican sponsored legislation in states gets challenged in the court, what types of courts are hearing these challenges these days? >> well, as you said, we still have a court system, federal court system that is easily dominated by a majority of judges appointed by republican presidents. that has very real implications for all of us because most of the judges appointed by these presidents were appointed for political reasons. they shared an agenda of republican presidents. many of them were pro business, pro corporate. some were anti-choice. and it's interesting, if you just look at recent george bush's appointees, nearly a third of his nominees to the circuit courts were members of
resign. of course, the trouble with clarence thomas is this is the justice who has been most unlikely to follow pret. if you look at his interpretation of the constitution you know, rachel, in clarence thomas' america, white only counters are permitted. he departs wildly from what has come before him. unfortunately i think you're going see it in how he handles this ethics scandal. >> how important do you think that harlon crow, the same donor and contributor and supporter and friend to justice thomas paid half million dollars to help his wife support the tea party group. how significant is that? >> i think fairly significant because i think that tea party group has been involved in supporting the care act. the first one opposed the affordable care act and the second one we don't know. she's now a lobbyist -- head of a lobbying group for the tea party. we don't know who her clients are. and that raises its own ethics scandal because if jenny thomas has accepted one dime to lobby to get the affordable care act repealed, that creates a recusal problem for her husband. she cannot be paid to bring about a resolve and then have her husband vote to make that resolve happen. >> ian, attorney and policy analyst for the center for american progress. thanks for being here. best new thing in the world today is our first-ever mob related best new thing. nothing about the mob is itself good, let alone best.
Detailed text transcripts for TV channel - MSNBC - 20110621:04:00:00 vimarsana.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from vimarsana.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.