Justice Thomas poses questions, stuns Supreme Court crowd

[dhoobler]

http://www.kiiitv.com/story/31343081/ju ... ourt-crowd

...
Thomas' questions Monday came in case in which the court is considering placing new limits on the reach of the 1996 law. The court is considering an appeal from two Maine men who say their guilty pleas for hitting their partners should not disqualify them from gun ownership.
...
But Thomas peppered Eisenstein with several questions about Second Amendment gun rights, a topic no other justice had asked about. He noted that the law allows someone convicted of a misdemeanor assault charge to get a lifetime ban on possessing a gun "which at least as of now results in suspension of a constitutional right."
...

[equin]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[WildBill]

Love it:

"Ms. Eisenstein, one question," Thomas said. "This is a misdemeanor violation. It suspends a constitutional right. Can you give me another area where a misdemeanor violation suspends a constitutional right?"

Eisenstein noted that violating other laws can, in some cases, limit a person's free-speech rights under the First Amendment.

"OK," Thomas said. "So can you think of a First Amendment suspension or a suspension of a First Amendment right that is permanent?"

I think that maybe Justice Thomas has been thinking and saving up questions over the last ten years.

[The Annoyed Man]

Already running here: http://www.texaschlforum.com/viewtopic. ... 08&t=83001

[casp625]

Already running here: http://www.texaschlforum.com/viewtopic. ... 08&t=83001

Well, technically, this thread was created first.

[tyree]

I think Justice Thomas probably liked to use the cross examination discussion time to allow certain other justices to ask questions he would have asked while he did a "deep dive" reflective analysis on the topics.

Now that Justice Scalia has passed away, I suspect that the lack of some of those questions/comments he used to provide necessitates Justice Thomas stepping in as needed to fill in that gap.