Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is no longer listed as a lecturer for courses at George Washington University‘s law school, with the university explaining that the justice is “unavailable” this fall.
Thomas’s apparent departure from the law school, where he has taught since 2011, comes just over a month after he signed on with five other Republican-appointed justices to overturn a half-century of abortion access precedent established under the case Roe v. Wade. School officials had previously dismissed a petition signed by 11,300 people calling for the justice to be removed from his teaching post at the law school.
CLARENCE THOMAS WOULD BE FORCED INTO SEMI-RETIREMENT UNDER DEMOCRATS’ SUPREME COURT LEGISLATION
A spokesperson for the university told the Washington Examiner that Thomas made the decision not to teach in the fall.
“Justice Thomas informed GW Law that he is unavailable to co-teach a Constitutional Law Seminar this fall,” the university said. “The students were promptly informed of Justice Thomas’ decision by his co-instructor, who will continue to offer the seminar this fall.”
Gregory Maggs, who previously co-taught with Thomas, will continue to teach the constitutional law course as the sole instructor.
“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 announced in an email, according to the GW Hatchet newspaper.
“For those of you still interested in taking the course, I assure you that we will make the best of the new situation,” Maggs said in the email to students.
Thomas was previously listed as a course instructor on the university’s webpage and had a personal university email attached to his profile, though the page no longer appears to be on the website.
GWU wrote a statement in June saying the university would retain Thomas as an instructor despite backlash from the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on June 24.
“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,” the school wrote in an email to students.
The petition also cited Thomas’s wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, as a reason to be terminated for her “part in the attempted coup in January of 2021,” likely referring to her correspondence supporting efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Notably, the justice wrote a separate concurrence arguing that the high court should “correct the error” of rulings that protect same-sex marriage and contraception access, which none of the other eight justices supported.
Thomas’s words sparked vehement opposition among Democrats and LGBT advocates and recently prompted the House to pass a bill that would codify same-sex marriage into federal law.
The Washington Examiner contacted the Supreme Court.
