After almost a decade on the court, Thomas had grown frustrated with his financial situation, according to friends. He had recently started raising his young grandnephew, and Thomas’ wife was soliciting advice on how to handle the new expenses. The month before, the justice had borrowed $267,000 from a friend to buy a high-end RV.
At the resort, Thomas gave a speech at an off-the-record conservative conference. He found himself seated next to a Republican member of Congress on the flight home. The two men talked, and the lawmaker left the conversation worried that Thomas might resign.
Congress should give Supreme Court justices a pay raise, Thomas told him. If lawmakers didn’t act, “one or more justices will leave soon” — maybe in the next year.
At the time, Thomas’ salary was $173,600, equivalent to over $300,000 today. But he was one of the least wealthy members of the court, and on multiple occasions in that period, he pushed for ways to make more money. In other private conversations, Thomas repeatedly talked about removing a ban on justices giving paid speeches.
If you’d read the story, or even just the summary above, you’d know that this story, and his threat to quit was something that happened in early January, 2000, 23 years ago. He can’t quit then, then isn’t now.
Reading between the lines, the article suggests that the corruption that followed (his sort-of son’s private tuition being paid off, the private jets to vacation on yachts, his wife getting a job at the Heritage Foundation and a six figure salary, etc.) was a result of his complaining that he wasn’t getting paid enough.
Will no one rid me of this troublesome debt?