Clarence Thomas Just Became the Second-Longest-Serving Supreme Court Justice Ever

On May 7, Clarence Thomas became the second-longest-serving justice in Supreme Court history. With more than 34 years on the bench, he is now just over two years shy of beating the record held by Justice William O. Douglas, who served from 1939 to 1975.

Thomas’s lengthy tenure highlights some of the current issues plaguing the Supreme Court: namely, that it allows justices to wield tremendous power for life and fails to hold them to high ethical standards. Indeed, as Thomas’s legacy demonstrates, a Supreme Court with unbounded tenure and minimal accountability can result in one person having too much public power for too long. That is particularly dangerous at a time of record-low trust in the Court.

In the three-and-a-half decades since his controversial confirmation, Thomas has become a titanic figure for the conservative legal movement. His votes have helped dismantle affirmative action and the Voting Rights Act, end the constitutional right to an abortion, undercut workers’ rights, usher in unlimited campaign spending by corporations, and curtail the power of executive agencies.

Thomas’s legacy has also been marred by a series of ethics scandals. As ProPublica and other news outlets have uncovered, Thomas has routinely benefited from generous gifts from his wealthy friends — most notably, Harlan Crow, a Texas billionaire and Republican benefactor. Among other things, Thomas has been gifted numerous luxury vacations, including private flights, helicopter rides, and yacht trips; a $19,000 Bible that once belonged to Frederick Douglass; real estate transactions benefiting him and his family; and private school tuition payments for his grandnephew. According to analysis by Fix the Court, Thomas has received 103 gifts worth more than $2.4 million between 2004 and 2023.

While some of these gifts were disclosed, many were not. Supreme Court justices, like all federal judges, are required under the Ethics in Government Act to report income, most capital gains, the purchase or sale of land, and gifts, among other things. In a public statement, Thomas relied on an exception to the law for “personal hospitality” to justify his failure to disclose lavish vacations, writing that he “was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends . . . was not reportable.” Thomas offered no explanation for his failure to disclose other gifts, such as tuition payments for his grandnephew.

Another element of Thomas’s tenure is his failure to recuse himself from cases that might present a conflict of interest. For example, in 2024, Thomas heard cases that dealt with the results and aftermath of the 2020 election. He was the only justice who voted to block the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection from accessing records and documents — including messages from his wife that revealed her extensive efforts to overturn the election results.

All this is perhaps unsurprising: Without an accountability mechanism short of impeachment, there is no suitable means to restrain the improper behavior of the justices. Ultimately, this creates an undemocratic institution. Supreme Court term limits — a highly popular proposal — would help restore democratic legitimacy to the bench by ensuring that no one holds power for an excessive length of time, allowing for more regular turnover on the bench, and lowering the temperature on confirmation battles.  

Additionally, as Thomas’s conduct reveals, imposing a gift ban and an enforceable code of ethics on Supreme Court justices is also urgently needed. All other judges, both state and federal, are bound by a code of conduct. A few years ago, the Court purported to fill this gap by establishing a voluntary code of conduct to guide the justices’ actions. But the code lacks any mechanism to report or evaluate compliance, thus falling short of ensuring real transparency or accountability. An enforceable code of conduct should be adopted in its place, one that makes official strict gift policies and affords an external body the authority to enforce the code.

Thomas’s 34 years on the high court highlight the problems with allowing justices to hold that much power for life. Reforms to address these problems and create a more democratically accountable institution — such as the ones in our new report — are long overdue.