Thomas’s tenure has surpassed that of the previous second-place record holder, Justice Stephen J. Field, who served from 1863 to 1897.
Clarence Thomas, 77, became the second-longest serving U.S. Supreme Court justice in history on May 7.
Sworn in Oct. 23, 1991, Thomas has now served 34 years, 6 months, and 13 days, surpassing the previous second-place record holder, Justice Stephen J. Field, who served from 1863 to 1897.
After working for the U.S. Department of Education, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and as a federal appeals court judge, Thomas was appointed by Republican President George H.W. Bush after a bruising confirmation battle in the U.S. Senate, where he was approved 52–48.
The second black member of the Supreme Court, Thomas succeeded to the seat of the first, Justice Thurgood Marshall, whom President Lyndon Johnson appointed in 1967.
In his 34 years on the highest court in the land, Thomas has loomed large in conservative legal circles, helping to cement court majorities to overturn the Roe v. Wade abortion ruling, while strengthening Second Amendment rights, reinterpreting the Voting Rights Act, reducing the powers of federal agencies, and banishing affirmative action from higher education admissions.
He has also faced scrutiny for accepting luxury trips paid by friends, which has generated ethics questions and led some Democratic lawmakers, who also criticize his conservative beliefs and jurisprudence, to demand investigations or his removal from office.
Thomas was once an outlier at the Supreme Court, but that body has become more conservative since he took his seat there.
Along the way, Thomas has embraced religious liberty, opposed same-sex marriage, supported broad presidential authority, and reined in campaign finance restrictions.
Thomas and other conservative justices have allowed Republican President Donald Trump to advance policies blocked by lower courts. When the Supreme Court in February rejected the president’s tariff policies, Thomas was one of three conservative justices who dissented.
Thomas is not shy about sharing his beliefs. On April 15, he gave a speech at the University of Texas in which he characterized progressivism as a threat to the nation and its founding principles.
He said progressivism “seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence, and hence our form of government,” holding that rights 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,” Thomas said.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
