The ‘Thomas court’: after biding his time, rightwing justice finds his power

Just as the conservative justice reaches the zenith of his influence to press his agenda, a political scandal could yet tear him down

Clarence Thomas knows the loneliness of the long distance runner - and the rewards. In 1980, with five months' training, he ran the Marine Corps Marathon in an impressive three hours and 11 minutes. He saw it as a metaphor for his life, he wrote later in his memoir.

The marathon is certainly apt for Thomas's three decades on the US supreme court. For the lion's share of that time he was a fringe figure with extremist views. But then the court's centre of gravity moved his way: Thomas is now the senior member of a group of rightwing justices with the votes to control it.