Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas

Ever since Clarence Thomas, a conservative, replaced Thurgood Marshall, a liberal, on the United States Supreme Court in 1991, there has been constant comparison between the two African-American justices.

Just this past month, in June 2005, Thomas again drew attention and comparison to Marshall concerning two Supreme Court decisions. Thomas was one of three justices who disagreed when the Court stated that a Texas killer's rights were compromised when prosecutors removed all but one African-American from the jury.

In another case, the Court stopped California from making it harder for defendants to get their claims of racial bias in jury selection investigated, and Thomas, the Court's only black member, was the only justice to disagree with the ruling.

These cases were public reminders of Thomas' status as the Court's toughest critic of racial discrimination claims, and one of America's more enigmatic figures.

Although he grew...
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