title:  Clarence Thomas On The Bench Without Scalia Is A Disaster: He Hasn’t Asked A Question In 10 Years
text: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is the epitome of conservative obstructionism. As the court evolved over the years, participation from the justices, specifically in the form of questions for petitioners, became a regular part of the system. Clarence Thomas, however, just sits and listens.A man in that kind of position of power who doesn t speak isn t giving petitioners the right to prepare to counter the views he s known to have through his past rulings and written opinions, which people say are stellar. Still, something doesn t sit right with a justice who hasn t asked a question from the bench in exactly one decade.There is some speculation that Thomas is self-conscious about his Georgia accent. He has also admitted that he doesn t like to compete with the louder voices on the court. There was no louder voice than Antonin Scalia. Scalia never missed the opportunity to ask a question he felt needed answering. He may very well be the reason why Clarence Thomas went into super secret quiet mode, chatting small talk with fellow justices only and cracking a joke once a few years ago. The last time he asked a question was on a death penalty case in 2006.Scalia covered what Clarence Thomas needed to hear. Their voting records nearly identical, the well-known Thomas written opinion is nothing but a mirror of what had already been spoken in open court. So what will Clarence Thomas do without Antonin Scalia? He s still got Justice Alito and Chief Justice Roberts, but with Justice Kennedy moving further to the left as America evolves as a society and an open seat that will likely be filled by a Democratic appointment, the days of Hobby Lobby Jesus law and  Citizens United: The repeal of the voting rights act  could very well be over.It will definitely be interesting to see if Clarence Thomas changes with the court.Featured image from biography.com