Clarence Thomas threatened to resign in 2000 over salary problems
Justice Clarence Thomas pressured MPs for a higher salary early in his tenure on the Supreme Court. He threatened to resign and inspired a campaign by Republican supporters to meet his demands, according to a memo sent to the chief justice in June 2000.
The memo, previously reported by ProPublica And obtained by The New York Times, underscores the financial pressures Judge Thomas may have faced at the time and exposed some of the associated political risks if Congress were to increase judges’ pay. The memo was included in the papers of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, kept at the Hoover Institution at Stanford.
According to the memo, written by a top federal court official, L. Ralph Mecham, Judge Thomas discussed the pay issue with Representative Cliff Stearns, Republican of Florida. Salaries at the Supreme Court were unsatisfactory, the judge said, and “one or more judges will soon leave” if compensation is not increased.
These concerns prompted Mr. Stearns’ office to seek help from a lobby group linked to the Podesta brothers to draft a bill that would increase judges’ pay. In doing so, a lobbyist sought guidance from a series of federal judges, raising reservations about the request and concerns about the best way to respond.
In 2000, Judge Thomas’ salary, that of a court employee, was $173,600 per year – more than $300,000 today. (Judge Thomas and the other judges are now paid $285,400 per year.)
In a letter to Judge Thomas obtained by ProPublica, Mr. Stearns outlined the details of their conversation and promised to look into the issue of pay. “I intend to explore a bill to increase the salaries of members of the Supreme Court,” he wrote. “As we have agreed, if the Constitution is interpreted correctly, it is worth a lot to Americans.”
“His importance as a conservative was paramount,” Mr. Stearns told ProPublica in a recent interview. “We wanted to make sure he felt comfortable in his job and that he was paid well.”
The Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the memo addressed to Chief Justice Rehnquist, Mr. Mecham quoted the conversation and asked for his advice in handling “this delicate matter.”
Under Mr. Stearns’ proposal, Mr. Mecham wrote, an amendment would separate judges’ pay from that of all other judges, as well as from that of members of Congress and the Cabinet. He would also set up a commission to study judges’ salaries.
Mr. Mecham’s letter to the chief justice questioned the wisdom of even pushing Congress to approve a pay increase for Supreme Court justices.
“Within the judiciary, this could risk resembling a dog in a manger-like approach,” he wrote. “For Congress, it could be seen as another attempt by the judiciary to decouple pay from Congress, which even our closest friends have balked at, although it would be limited solely to judges, which might make it more palatable to make. But I’m not sure at all.”
“From a tactical perspective, given the public statements made largely by Democratic lobbyists,” Mr. Mecham continued, “it won’t be long before Democrats and liberals in Congress figure out that the key beneficiaries who might otherwise leave the court presumably it is Justices Thomas and Scalia.”
That year, Chief Justice Rehnquist reiterated concerns about pay in a final report that cited “what I consider to be the most pressing issue facing the judiciary: the need to increase the salaries of the judiciary.”
The revelations about Judge Thomas’ complaints add to the debate over ethics at the Supreme Court and his personal finances, which has repeatedly led him to seek the help and support of billionaire donors.
About this time Mr. Thomas was heavily in debt. A year earlier, Judge Thomas took out a $267,230 personal loan from health care magnate Anthony Welters to purchase a recreational vehicle that he was unable to fully repay for years.
Abbie VanSickle reporting contributed.