A month ago, following the Supreme Court decsion to overturn Roe vs. Wade, students at George Washington University petitioned to have Justice Clarence Thomas removed as a lecturer, a move the school rejected.
Now Thomas is not going to teach this fall, but the petition controversy is not being reported as connected to this new development.
From the GW Hatchet:
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas won’t teach GW Law seminarSupreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas will not teach a Constitutional Law Seminar this fall, according to an email addressed to students in the seminar that was obtained by The Hatchet.Gregory Maggs, who has co-taught the course with Thomas since 2011, stated in an email addressed to the class that Thomas is “unavailable” to co-teach the course in the fall, and Thomas is no longer listed as a lecturer on GW Law’s course list. Thomas’ withdrawal from the course comes a month after more than 11,000 community members signed a petition demanding his removal from GW, but officials declined to remove him from his role after he voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.“Unfortunately, I am writing with some sad news: Justice Thomas has informed me that he is unavailable to co-teach the seminar this fall,” Maggs said in an email obtained by The Hatchet. “I know that this is disappointing. I am very sorry.”Thomas did not immediately return a request for comment. Maggs deferred multiple requests for comment to GW’s communications office.“The seminar has not been canceled but I will now be the sole instructor,” Maggs said in the email. “For those of you still interested in taking the course, I assure you that we will make the best of the new situation.”
FOX News has more on this:
Thomas has not spoken publicly on the matter, and there has been no explanation provided for his sudden withdrawal from the class.Students started a petition to have him removed following the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling last month, but the university released a subsequent statement pushing back against that petition.It read, “Because we steadfastly support the robust exchange of ideas and deliberation, and because debate is an essential part of our university’s academic and educational mission to train future leaders who are prepared to address the world’s most urgent problems, the university will neither terminate Justice Thomas’ employment nor cancel his class in response to his legal opinions.”Thomas has been a liberal target since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a landmark decision earlier this year.
Even if this is not connected to the petition from last month, the students who pushed it will likely see this as a win.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY