Isle ACLU reverses Under a barrage of criticism and negative publicity, the board of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii backtracked last night from its snub of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
snub of Thomas
Supreme Court Justice Clarence
Thomas will likely be invited to a
debate on free speechBy Rosemarie Bernardo
rbernardo@starbulletin.comThe board voted 10-4 in favor of inviting Thomas to the 2003 Davis Levin First Amendment Conference in Hawaii. The decision reverses the board's 3-12 vote in May that rejected an ACLU subcommittee's recommendation to invite Thomas to the conference.
The full board last night sent the issue back to a subcommittee that has already voted 6-0 in favor of inviting Thomas to debate national ACLU President Nadine Strossen.
The Hawaii chapter of the ACLU, an organization known for championing free-speech, had come under attack for rejecting Thomas' presence at the conference because of what they considered the justice's right-wing values.
After last night's closed-door meeting at the Downtown YWCA, ACLU Hawaii President Pam Lichty said the board talked "about what the mission of this conference is supposed to be and what ACLU is suppose to be all about."
"It was a real, very emotional tenor to the discussion in May," she said. "Some board members felt very passionately about Thomas specifically. Some of us were sort of caught up in that.
"As much as we may not like Thomas' view, (we decided) that maybe it was a good way to showcase our differences with him," Lichty added.
National news organizations -- including the Fox News network, the Wall Street Journal and National Review -- and the group's own parent organization have criticized the Hawaii chapter for the decision to snub Thomas.
In a June 26 letter to Lichty, Ira Glasser, the longtime executive director of the national ACLU, wrote: "You have strengthened Justice Thomas' positions by your reluctance to debate them. You have weakened the public's confidence in the ACLU's positions by your timidity. You have undermined one of the central operational premises of the ACLU."
Prior to the May vote, some ACLU Hawaii board members complained bitterly about Thomas' views, especially in regard to affirmative action.
Board member Daphne Barbee-Wooten had written a letter to the subcommittee stating: "Bringing Clarence Thomas sends a message that the Hawaii ACLU promotes and honors black Uncle Toms who turn their back on civil rights, who violate civil rights laws and ensure civil rights laws are limited." Other board members questioned Thomas' integrity.
In January, about 35 protesters carried signs along South Beretania Street outside the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii when U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia debated Strossen at the First Amendment conference. The protesters opposed what they said were Scalia's "right-wing conservative" opinions.
Thomas was nominated to the Supreme Court by former President George Bush. He took the oath of office in October 1991. During his confirmation, former University of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill accused him of sexual harassment while he was head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
No date has been set for the 2003 First Amendment Conference.