Clarence Thomas' elevation to the Supreme Court in 1991 immediately brought with it entry into another exclusive club where he has hobnobbed and been feted by an assortment of wealthy conservatives.
According to a report from the New York Times' Abbie Van Sickle and Steve Eder, the controversial jurist who is being scrutinized after being lavished with expensive gifts and trips by conservative billionaire Harlan Crow, became a member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, with the Times report adding that he "entered a world whose defining ethos of meritocratic success."
As the report states, after being awarded membership, Thomas "... moved into the inner circle, a cluster of extraordinarily wealthy, largely conservative members who lionized him and all that he had achieved."
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The report continued, "He has granted it unusual access to the Supreme Court, where every year he presides over the group’s signature event: a ceremony in the courtroom at which he places Horatio Alger medals around the necks of new lifetime members," before adding, "His friendships forged though Horatio Alger have brought him proximity to a lifestyle of unimaginable material privilege. Over the years, his Horatio Alger friends have welcomed him at their vacation retreats, arranged V.I.P. access to sporting events and invited him to their lavish parties."
With that in mind, the Times report adds, "a look at his tenure at the Horatio Alger Association, based on more than two dozen interviews and a review of public filings and internal documents, shows that Justice Thomas has received benefits — many of them previously unreported — from a broader cohort of wealthy and powerful friends. They have included major donors to conservative causes with broad policy and political interests and much at stake in Supreme Court decisions, even if they were not directly involved in the cases."
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