2026-05-03 10:06:05 UTC / 路透社
作者：简·沃尔夫
2026年5月3日 美国东部时间上午10:06 更新于1小时前
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2025年2月5日，美国华盛顿白宫，帕姆·邦迪宣誓就任美国司法部长当天，美国最高法院大法官克拉伦斯·托马斯出席仪式。路透社/肯特·西村 档案照片 购买授权，打开新标签页
- 摘要
- 托马斯本周将成为美国最高法院任职时长第二长的大法官
- 这位77岁的大法官自1991年起在最高法院任职
- 托马斯为最高法院打上了保守派烙印
- 支持枪支权利、反对堕胎权和平权行动
- 2028年他将成为任职时间最长的大法官
5月3日（路透社）——克拉伦斯·托马斯本周将在美国最高法院迎来重要里程碑，成为美国历史上任职时长第二长的最高法院大法官。一路走来，这位坚定的保守派人士尽管并非所有主张都得到了支持，但仍在推动最高法院向右转的过程中发挥了重要作用。
现年77岁的托马斯自1991年10月起任职，由共和党总统乔治·H·W·布什在他43岁时任命，接替自由派标杆人物、民权先驱瑟古德·马歇尔出任美国最高司法机构的大法官。马歇尔是最高法院首位黑人大法官，而托马斯在经历激烈的参议院确认斗争后成为第二位。
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据最高法院历史协会介绍，托马斯将于周一超越1863年至1897年任职的斯蒂芬·J·菲尔德大法官，位列最高法院任职时长第三；该协会表示，托马斯将于周四超越已故前同事约翰·保罗·史蒂文斯大法官（1975年至2010年任职），升至第二位。
协会称，如果托马斯任职至2028年5月20日，他将打破威廉·O·道格拉斯大法官（1939年至1975年任职）的任职时长纪录，成为最高法院任职时间最长的大法官。
影响深远
托马斯在最高法院留下了自己的印记，尽管他的角色多年来一直在演变。
“他刚到法院时常常持异议立场，但始终坚持自己的立场，”曾担任托马斯法官助理的圣母大学法学院教授黑利·普罗克特说道。
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“这位大法官对法律的影响极为深远，”普罗克特说。“这不仅是因为他在法院任职多年，也因为他始终坚持不懈。”
托马斯助力了2020年以来形成的6票对3票的最高法院保守派多数派，使其积极行使司法权。2022年6月，他连续两天牵头作出标志性裁决：扩大美国宪法第二修正案保护的枪支权利，并与其他保守派大法官一同推翻了1973年将堕胎全国合法化的“罗伊诉韦德案”判决。
托马斯还倡导扩大宗教自由的解释范围，反对同性婚姻，反对大学录取和就业中针对少数族裔的平权行动优惠政策，支持死刑和扩大总统权力，并限制竞选资金限制。
“托马斯大法官是现代以来最高法院任职的最激进保守派大法官，”加州大学伯克利分校法学院院长欧文·切梅林斯基说道。“我这么说不仅因为他立场保守，还因为他提出的会大幅改变现有法律的主张，是法院从未接受过的。”
切梅林斯基指出，托马斯支持推翻那些禁止避孕和同性性行为的最高法院先例，还希望结束对新闻自由的关键保护，并批评法院要求各州为无力聘请律师的刑事被告提供辩护律师的先例。
“在某些领域，他成功改变了法律，比如第二修正案、推翻‘罗伊诉韦德案’和终结平权行动，”切梅林斯基说。“但在大多数领域，他呼吁向保守方向激进变革的主张并未获得法院多数派的支持。”
托马斯和其他保守派大法官曾助力共和党总统唐纳德·特朗普推行一系列被下级法院以合法性存疑为由阻挠的政策。今年2月，最高法院罕见地驳回了特朗普的全面全球关税政策，托马斯是三名持异议的保守派大法官之一，特朗普随后对他大加赞赏。
忠诚之心
保守派智库克莱蒙特研究所研究员肯·马苏吉表示，托马斯在同事中，尤其是在他前法律助理中，赢得了忠诚之心，其中一些人后来成为了联邦法官。在进入最高法院任职前，托马斯曾在美国平等就业机会委员会（EEOC）聘用马苏吉担任顾问。
“人们会注意到，他的助理们都对他极其忠诚，哪怕是那些与他意见相左的人，”马苏吉说。“这证明了他对法院内部人员的影响力。”
布什提名托马斯出任最高法院终身职位时，托马斯正担任联邦上诉法院法官。参议院以52票对48票确认了这一任命，此前的确认斗争中，他被时任平等就业机会委员会前下属、法学教授安妮塔·希尔指控性骚扰。托马斯否认了这一指控。
时任参议院司法委员会主席、后来成为总统的民主党人乔·拜登，主持了那场确认听证会。托马斯当时谴责这场听证会是“对傲慢黑人的高科技私刑”。他对参议员们表示：“这传递出一个信息：除非你向旧秩序低头……否则你会被美国参议院委员会私刑处死、摧毁、丑化，而不是被绞死在树上。”
托马斯在公开场合发言依然直言不讳。4月15日，托马斯在德克萨斯大学表示，进步主义是一种对美国及其18世纪建国原则构成生存威胁的政治哲学。
托马斯说，进步主义“试图取代《独立宣言》的基本前提，进而取代我们的政府形式。它认为我们的权利和尊严并非来自上帝，而是来自政府。它要求人民服从和软弱，这与我们的宪法前提——我们的权利源于超验起源——背道而驰。”
美国大学法学院教授斯蒂芬·韦米尔表示：“我知道他是个非常善于交际的人，法院里的人都喜欢他，但他常常给人一种愤怒、愤世嫉俗的大法官形象。有时你会觉得他还没从安妮塔·希尔事件中走出来，对此仍憋着一股怒火。”
“糟糕的先例”
布什的另一位最高法院大法官任命者戴维·苏特大法官后来转向自由派阵营，成为可靠的自由派成员，这让保守派大吃一惊。而托马斯则成为了保守派的宠儿，尽管他的贡献有时会被同时代的保守派大法官安东宁·斯卡利亚掩盖，后者于2016年去世。
1992年，即他在法院任职的首个完整年度，托马斯加入了一份异议意见，主张堕胎权应由各州决定，应推翻“罗伊诉韦德案”。这是托马斯多次毫不犹豫地推翻重要先例中的第一次。
1995年，托马斯撰写了一份协同意见，谴责平权行动项目，称其助长了一种观念，即少数族裔不借助帮助就无法竞争。
数十年后的今天，这些立场已被纳入最高法院先例。
“如果托马斯认为过去确立了糟糕的先例，他不会对这些先例有任何忠诚，”克莱蒙特麦肯纳学院教授拉尔夫·罗瑟姆说道，他曾撰写过一本关于托马斯的著作。
托马斯还改掉了一个独特习惯。在法院任职的近30年里，他几乎从未在案件口头辩论中提问。2020年新冠疫情期间法院开始通过电话会议审理案件后，这一情况发生了改变，此后他一直是常规提问者。
托马斯的未来
托马斯将于6月23日迎来78岁生日，目前没有任何迹象表明他打算退休。如果出现空缺，特朗普将有权第四次任命最高法院大法官，他曾表示希望托马斯和76岁的保守派同事塞缪尔·阿利托继续留任。
“很难想象成为任职时间最长的大法官对他来说没有某种重要意义，”韦米尔说。
托马斯过去曾暗示自己会长期任职。2019年在加州佩珀代因大学的一次演讲中，有人问他20年后退休派对上可能会说什么。
“但我不会退休，”托马斯告诉采访者，对方追问：“20年也不退休？”
“不，”托马斯回答。
“30年也不退休？”采访者继续追问。
“不，”托马斯答道。
简·沃尔夫报道；威尔·邓汉姆编辑
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As Clarence Thomas hits a milestone, his conservative stamp on US Supreme Court endures
2026-05-03 10:06:05 UTC / Reuters
By Jan Wolfe
May 3, 2026 10:06 AM UTC Updated 1 hour ago
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U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas looks on, on the day of swearing ceremony of Pam Bondi as U.S. Attorney General at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura/File photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
- Thomas this week becomes second-longest-serving US justice
- The 77-year-old justice has served on the court since 1991
- Thomas has helped put a conservative stamp on the court
- Backs gun rights, opposes abortion, affirmative action
- In 2028, he would become the longest-serving justice
May 3 (Reuters) – Clarence Thomas this week will reach a major milestone on the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the second-longest-serving justice in American history. Along the way, the stalwart conservative has played an important role in guiding the court on a rightward course, even if he has not gotten everything he has advocated.
Thomas, who is 77, has served since October 1991, having been appointed at age 43 by Republican President George H.W. Bush to replace liberal luminary and civil-rights pioneer Thurgood Marshall on the top U.S. judicial body. Marshall was the first Black member of the court. Thomas, after a contentious Senate confirmation battle, became the second.
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Thomas on Monday will overtake Justice Stephen J. Field, who served from 1863 to 1897, for the court’s third-longest tenure, according to the Supreme Court Historical Society, opens new tab. Thomas on Thursday will leapfrog his late former colleague Justice John Paul Stevens, who served from 1975 to 2010, for the second-longest tenure, the society said.
If Thomas remains until May 20, 2028, he would set the court’s longevity record, passing Justice William O. Douglas, who served from 1939 to 1975, the society said.
PROFOUNDLY INFLUENTIAL
Thomas has left his mark on the Supreme Court, even as his role has evolved over the years.
“He began his time on the court often in dissent, and he stood his ground,” said Haley Proctor, a University of Notre Dame law professor who previously served as a clerk for Thomas.
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“The justice’s influence on the law has been profound, Proctor said. “And that is a consequence, not only of his many years on the court, but also of his persistence.”
Thomas has helped the court’s 6-3 conservative majority, in place since 2020, to act assertively. On back-to-back days in June 2022, he was the author of a landmark ruling expanding gun rights protected by the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment and joined other conservative justices in overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized abortion nationwide.
Thomas also has championed an expansive view of religious liberty, opposed gay marriage, fought affirmative action preferences for minorities in university admissions and hiring, supported the death penalty and broad presidential powers, and curbed campaign-finance restrictions.
“Justice Thomas is the most radically conservative justice to serve on the Supreme Court in modern times,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. “I say this because in addition to being conservative he has taken positions that would dramatically change the law that the court never has accepted.”
Chemerinsky noted, among other things, that Thomas favors overturning Supreme Court precedents that have blocked laws against contraceptives and gay sex. Chemerinsky also pointed to the justice’s desire to end key protections for freedom of the press and his criticism of the court’s precedent that required states to provide defense lawyers to criminal defendants who cannot afford to hire one.
“In some areas, he succeeded in changing the law, such as the Second Amendment, overruling Roe v. Wade and ending affirmative action,” Chemerinsky said. “But in most places his calls for a radical change in a conservative direction have not gained support from a majority of the court.”
Thomas and the other conservative justices have let Republican President Donald Trump implement a series of policies impeded by lower courts that faulted their legality. When the court handed Trump a rare setback in February by rejecting his sweeping global tariffs, Thomas was one of three conservative justices who dissented, and the president lavished praise on him.
A SENSE OF LOYALTY
Ken Masugi, a fellow at the conservative Claremont Institute think tank, said Thomas engenders a sense of loyalty in those who work with him, especially his former law clerks, several of whom have since become federal judges. Before his Supreme Court tenure, Thomas hired Masugi as an advisor at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC.
“One notices that his clerks are incredibly loyal to him, even the ones who disagree with him,” Masugi said. “That’s proof of the influence he has on the people within the court.”
Thomas was serving as a federal appellate judge when Bush nominated him to a lifetime job on the Supreme Court. The Senate confirmed Thomas on a 52-48 vote after a confirmation battle during which he was accused of sexual harassment by a law professor named Anita Hill, a former subordinate of his at the EEOC. Thomas denied the allegation.
Future President Joe Biden, a Democrat, was the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the confirmation hearings that Thomas denounced as “a high-tech lynching for uppity Blacks.” Thomas told the senators: “It is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order … you will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree.”
Thomas continues to be blunt in public remarks. On April 15 at the University of Texas, Thomas called progressivism a political philosophy that poses an existential threat to the United States and its 18th-century founding principles.
Thomas said progressivism “seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence, and hence our form of government. It holds that our rights and our dignities come not from God, but from government. It requires of the people a subservience and weakness incompatible with a Constitution premised on the transcendent origin of our rights.”
American University law professor Stephen Wermiel said, “I understand that he’s a very gregarious guy and that people at the court like him, but he does often come across as sort of an angry, bitter justice. There are times when you feel like he’s still not over the Anita Hill episode, and still has a kind of simmering anger about that.”
‘BAD PRECEDENTS’
Bush’s other Supreme Court appointee, Justice David Souter, surprised conservatives by evolving into a reliable member of its liberal wing. Thomas, on the other hand, became a darling of conservatives, even if his contributions sometimes were overshadowed by his contemporary conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016.
In 1992, his first full year on the court, Thomas joined a dissent arguing that abortion access should be decided on the state level, and that Roe v. Wade should be overturned. It was the first of many times Thomas showed no reservations about overturning major precedents.
In 1995, Thomas wrote a concurring opinion denouncing affirmative action programs, saying they foster a belief that racial minorities cannot compete without help.
Now, decades later, these positions have been enshrined in Supreme Court precedent.
“If Thomas believes there were bad precedents set in the past, he doesn’t feel any fidelity to them,” said Ralph Rossum, a professor at Claremont McKenna College who wrote a book on Thomas.
And Thomas has abandoned one of his idiosyncrasies. For his first nearly three decades on the court, he rarely posed questions during oral arguments in cases. That changed when the court began hearing arguments by teleconference in 2020 during the COVID pandemic, and he has been a regular questioner since.
WHAT’S IN STORE FOR THOMAS?
Thomas, who turns 78 on June 23, has given no indication of planning to retire. Trump, who would get to make a fourth appointment to the court if any vacancy arises, has said he hopes Thomas and fellow conservative Justice Samuel Alito, 76, stay on the bench.
“It’s hard for me to imagine that becoming the longest-serving justice is not of some importance to him,” Wermiel said.
Thomas in the past has hinted at a lengthy tenure. During a 2019 talk at Pepperdine University in California, Thomas was asked what he might say at his retirement party in 20 years’ time.
“But I’m not retiring,” Thomas told the interviewer, who queried: “Not in 20 years?”
“No,” replied Thomas.
“Not in 30 years?” the interviewer persisted.
“No,” Thomas replied.
Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Will Dunham
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