Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Discharged from Hospital after Week-Long Stay

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was released from the hospital Friday morning, one week after he was admitted due to flu-like symptoms, the court said.

The court on Friday did not give any further information about his condition, according to ScotusBlog, a website that covers the Supreme Court in-depth.

Thomas, 73, is the second-oldest member of the Supreme Court and a member of the conservative bloc.

In a Sunday press release, the court said that Thomas was admitted to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., last Friday after experiencing flu-like symptoms. He “underwent tests, was diagnosed with an infection, and is being treated with intravenous antibiotics,” the court said Sunday. He was “resting comfortably” and was expected to be released “in a day or two,” the court noted at the time.

“Justice Thomas will participate in the consideration and discussion of any cases for which he is not present on the basis of the briefs, transcripts, and audio of the oral arguments,” the court said Sunday.

Thomas, who was placed on the court by George H.W. Bush more than three decades ago, has been a hero to many in the conservative legal realm, having stated his opposition to Roe v. Wade and having sided numerous times with conservative organizations in religious liberty cases.

Although he is its second-oldest member, he is its longest-serving member. He was confirmed in 1991, three years before 83-year-old Stephen Breyer, who is retiring.

Thomas was profiled in the 2020 documentary Created Equal: Clarence Thomas In His Own Words.

When interpreting the constitutional text, Thomas said in the documentary, “The goal is to discern the most likely public understanding of a particular provision at the time it was adopted.”

“A bad policy can be constitutional,” he said. “A good policy can be unconstitutional. So that’s why we start with the text.”

Related:

4 Reasons to Watch ‘Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words’

Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Alex Wong/Staff

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.

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