Clarence Thomas

Clarence Thomas has served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court since 1991, the longest tenure among the justices currently sitting. His opinions bearing on digital politics concern political spending and disclosure, the regulatory status of large platforms, and government access to digital records.

Appointment

President George H.W. Bush nominated Thomas on July 8, 1991 to the seat vacated by Thurgood Marshall. The Senate confirmed him on October 15, 1991, and he took the judicial oath on October 23, 1991. He had served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit since 1990 and, before that, as chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from 1982 to 1990.

Political Spending and Disclosure

In Citizens United v. FEC (2010), Thomas joined the opinion of the Court as to all but Part IV — the section upholding the disclaimer and disclosure requirements of BCRA §§201 and 311. Writing separately, he agreed that the restriction on independent corporate expenditures was unconstitutional but said the Court had not gone far enough: in his view the disclosure, disclaimer and reporting requirements were unconstitutional as well, because “Congress may not abridge the ‘right to anonymous speech.’” He was the only justice to take that position; Part IV carried 8-1.

Platforms as Common Carriers

In Biden v. Knight First Amendment Institute (2021), the Court vacated the Second Circuit’s judgment and remanded with instructions to dismiss the case — which concerned President Trump’s blocking of users on Twitter — as moot. Thomas concurred, using the occasion to argue that the case illustrated a mismatch: a public official’s account could be treated as a public forum even though “a private company has unrestricted authority to do away with it.” He suggested that dominant digital platforms resemble common carriers and could be regulated as such, while noting that Congress had not enacted any such regulation. The concurrence is frequently invoked in subsequent argument over platform regulation, though it commanded no other vote and set no precedent.

Government Access to Digital Records

In Carpenter v. United States (2018), the Court held that the government generally needs a warrant to obtain historical cell-site location information. Thomas filed a dissenting opinion.

Platform Regulation by Statute

Thomas joined the per curiam opinion in TikTok Inc. v. Garland (2025), decided January 17, 2025, which upheld the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act against a First Amendment challenge. He did not write separately.