Advocacy by Justice’s Wife Could Raise Supreme Court Issues

The conservative activist Virginia Thomas’s work with a new nonprofit advocacy group could raise thorny judicial issues for her husband, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, according to The New York Times.

Ms. Thomas last year started Liberty Central, an organization dedicated to opposing what it calls President Obama’s leftist “tyranny,” with $550,000 in donations. Because it is an advocacy group classified under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, Liberty Central does not have to disclose the names of its donors.

Federal law requires justices to remove themselves from considering cases in which real or perceived conflicts of interest could arise, including a spouse’s financial interest, but whether to do so is up to the judge.

Sarah Field, Liberty Central’s chief operating officer, said the group has “internal reviews and protections” to ensure no such conflicts arise.

That Liberty Central donors are secret will make it difficult for the public to “form a judgment about propriety” in cases heard by Justice Thomas, said Deborah L. Rohde, director of Stanford University’s Center on the Legal Profession.

A spokeswoman for the Supreme Court told the newspaper that “around the time of the launch of Liberty Central, Mrs. Thomas reviewed her involvement with the Supreme Court legal office. Discussions with the legal office that are part of efforts to obtain legal and ethics advice are not made public.”