Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to deliver Sept. 15 Hruska lecture

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas will deliver the Roman L. Hruska Institute for the Administration of Justice lecture at noon Sept. 15 in Hamann Auditorium, located in the University of Nebraska College of Law. The lecture is free and open to the public. While on campus, he will meet with students and participate in law classes.

Last May, Justice Thomas delivered the commencement address to the college's 2011 graduates.

Thomas is the latest Supreme Court Justice of the United States to deliver the lecture. Anthony M. Kennedy, Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg have been Hruska Lecturers in recent years.

“We are delighted to have Justice Thomas visit Nebraska Law to participate in classes and engage with our community,” said Susan Poser, dean of the College of Law. “This continues our tradition of hosting U.S. Supreme Court Justices at the college with the support of the Nebraska State Bar Foundation.”

The Roman L. Hruska Institute for the Administration of Justice was established in 1995 by a generous gift to the Bar Foundation. The purpose of the institute is to "educate lawyers, law students and the public-at-large in Nebraska to the importance of the administration of justice, particularly at the federal level through the conduct of symposia and lectures."

Thomas was born near Savannah, Ga., in 1948, attended Conception Seminary and received an A.B., cum laude, from Holy Cross College and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1974. He was admitted to law practice in Missouri and was an assistant attorney general from 1974-1977, an attorney with Monsanto Co. from 1977-1979 and legislative assistant to Sen. John Danforth from 1979-1981. From 1981-1982, he was assistant secretary for civil rights in the U.S. Department of Education and chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from 1982-1990. He became a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1990. President George H.W. Bush nominated him to the Supreme Court and he took his seat Oct. 23, 1991. Thomas married Virginia Lamp in 1987 and has one child, Jamal Adeen, by a previous marriage.