1.  How does the media portray Justice Clarence Thomas, according to Thomas Sowell?

2.  For what reason did Justice Thomas refuse to declare it a violation of the constitution when prison guards beat a handcuffed prisoner?  What did the media say about him?

3.  Read the following statements made by Mr. Sowell in his commentary about Justice Thomas.  For each, do you agree or disagree?  Explain your answers.

• "What Justice Thomas understood, that the media either didn't understand or didn't want to understand, was that everything that is wrong, or even illegal, is not automatically a violation of the constitution."
• "Justice Thomas has driven home the point that the constitution is not a blank check authorizing judges to right whatever they think is wrong."
  
• "Contrary to what many say in the media, or even in academia, it is not a question of whether a judge is personally "conservative" or "liberal." The real question is whether he believes he is there to uphold the constitution or the constitution is there to authorize him to do whatever he wants to do [what he thinks is right]."

4.  A judge is either a constitutionalist or an activist judge. Justice Thomas is a constitutionalist.

• For an explanation of constutionalism from the conservative organization Committee for Justice, go to web2.committeeforjustice.org/index.php?id=about-us AND SCROLL DOWN.
• For an explanation of judicial activism, go to Wikipedia.org here.
  (NOTE:  No definition for activist judge could be found on the websites of liberal organizations such as ACLU.org, PFAW.org and SaveTheCourt.org. Therefore, we have provided the information from the online encyclopedia, wikipedia.org.)

Which makes more sense to you (constitutionalist or activist)?  Explain your answer.