Law360 has Thomas Breaks 1-Year Silence In Historic Teleconference:
Justice Thomas last spoke up in a Mississippi death penalty case in March 2019. Before that he hadn't asked a question since 2016, when he broke the silence since his previous question in 2006. Justice Thomas has explained his customary silence by referencing the active questioning by his Supreme Court colleagues, as well as his childhood experience being the only black student in a virtually all-white school and being made fun of for his Geechee dialect.And see Law.com's A Few Pauses, and 'Sorry, Chief,' But Supreme Court Pulls Off Historic First
"I was thinking in standard English but speaking another language so I just started developing the habit of listening," he said in 2000. "And it just got to be — I didn't ask questions in college or law school. I found that I could learn better just listening."
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