A Christian Liberal is NOT an oxymoron.

Posted by XT on October 24th, 2009 in General

Why be a bully?

Thomas — who hasn’t asked a lawyer a question during arguments in nearly four years — said he and the other eight justices virtually always know where they stand on a case by reading legal briefs before oral arguments.

“So why do you beat up on people if you already know? I don’t know, because I don’t beat up on ‘em. I refuse to participate. I don’t like it, so I don’t do it,” Thomas said during an appearance before law students at the University of Alabama.

Thomas didn’t name names, but fellow conservative Justice Antonin Scalia is generally considered the court’s most aggressive questioner during oral arguments. President Barack Obama’s lone nominee so far, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, isn’t afraid to ask questions either.

Thomas scoffed at the idea that the justices try to use questions to influence the opinions of fellow members of the court.

“All nine of us are in the same building,” he said. “If we want to sway each other we know where we are. We don’t need oral arguments to do that. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

In other words, it’s just a dog and pony show. And speaking of that:

He compared Senate confirmation to selecting the referees for a college football game in hopes of getting favorable calls for one team or the other.

“That’s all based on a particular outcome you want. That is the antithesis of judging. You’re corrupting your process,” he said. “I think the confirmation process is both unnecessary, it’s uninformed with respect to what the court actually does and it’s very dangerous.”

This is why, historically speaking, most Supreme Court Justices didn’t even attend their confirmation hearings. It makes a sick joke of the whole process.