Silent Justice: The Clarence Thomas Story

Silent Justice is a fascinating account of the personal and political development of a man who now holds one of the most influential positions in our nation, a man about whom people have very strong feelings ranging from admiration and respect to outright disdain. Although I personally disagree with Justice Thomas's positions on many issues, a friend recommended this book because of its keen perceptions of the character of a man who has the potential to influence all of our lives for years to come. As it turned out, I enjoyed the book immensely.Silent Justice is an unusually unbiased account compared with much that has been written about Thomas. Although the book allowed me to draw my own conclusions, I found John Greenya's treatment of the ways in which Thomas's opinions and style changed from his college days and throughout his years at the Equal Employment Opportunities commission and on the Federal bench to be particularly interesting. In addition, the description of Thomas's early life and the culture he grew up in provides a necessary backdrop for understanding his later life. The skillful blending of Thomas's professional and personal struggles, as well as the author's insights into the special challenges inherent in being a black man functioning at the upper levels of society and government is part of what makes this book so interesting.I would definitely recommend Silent Justice to anyone who wants to understand what makes Thomas tick or who wants a greater perspective on the various ways people achieve power and prestige in American government and society.

In the foreword to his book, Washington writer John Greenya wryly recounts the disdain with which friends and other persons greeted the news that he was writing a biography of Justice Clarence Thomas. Much of this disgust came from political liberals, who already knew what they wished to know about Justice Thomas, and who cared naught about anything else. 'Tis a a pity, that closed minds are so prevalent in modern political Washington. In reality, Justice Thomas' story is an up-from-the-muck saga of a kid from rural Georgia who grew up speaking an Island dialect -- unsureness of speech is the chief reason he seldom asks questions during SCOTUS sessions -- and went through Yale, perhaps America's toughest law school. The value of Greenya's book is that he reports, rather than lectures, and one comes away from Silent Justice with a better understanding of a man condemned to carry into history the qualifier "the controversial Justice Thomas." Steve Weinberg, who reviewed Silent Justice for The Legal Times, concluded, "For potential readers who have already decided beyond all doubt that Thomas is either a hero or a villain, this book will be maddening. for potential readers who have strong opinions about Thomas but are willing to revise those opinions on the basis of new evidence, this book will be revalatory." Amen

I've been wondering for some years why we hear so little from or about Clarence Thomas after all the hullabaloo of his confirmation hearings. Now, having just read Silent Justice, I know. It's because, as the title suggests, he rarely if ever says anything during argumentsmbefore the Supreme Court, and he refuses to give interviewsto the mainstream media. Like so many other women all over America, I remember the excitement of the hearings and the shocking charges made against Thomas by his former employee Anita Hill. I also remember coming away from them with a sort of vague unease over not knowing who was telling the truth and who was lying. I bought this bookhoping to have that question answered, and while the author does not claim to have solved the mystery, he provides sufficient new evidence(especially his lengthy interview with the man who rented Thomas the core porno tapes back in the 1980s) to suggest that Thomas' angry defense was a clever way of dodging the bullet. Two things impressed me favorably about the book. First of all, you don't have to be a lawyer or legal scholer to understand it; John Greenya's style is readable and direct and moves you rright along. Secondly, the book is very fair. It gives equal weight to both friends and foes of Justice Thomas, and in doing so supports the author's claim that today, after ten years on the Supreme Court, he remains an "enigma".

Being a fan of biographies and a Washington-based trial lawyer for more years than I like to mention, I looked forward to reading John Greenya's SILENT JUSTICE, The Clarence Thomas Story. I was not disappointed. In fact, I enjoyed it thoroughly. As anyone in this city can tell you, and especially the lawyers, it is very difficult to find people who are neutral on the subject of Justice Thomas. Yet, Greenya manages to give both sides of the story, that of his proponents as well as that of his detractors, and the result is one of the best-balanced biographies I have read in years. I particularly liked his interview with Mr. Maddox, the man who rented Thomas soft-core porn videos in the mid-1980s, and whose testimony, had he been called before the Judiciary Committee during the 1991 hearings, may have derailed the nomination. But then, it if had, we would not have this fine book to read. A must read for anyone intersted in the law in general or the Supreme Court in particular.