Georgia House Republicans consider erecting statue of Justice Thomas at state Capitol

Georgia Republicans are taking steps over Democratic opposition to erect a statue of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at the state Capitol. 

State House Republicans will take up Senate Bill 69 in the Rules Committee next week, The Washington Times has learned.

The bill was introduced by Republican Sen. Ben Watson, who represents District 1, the area where Justice Thomas was born. 

The bill has been debated for months and is returning to the House Rules Committee next week for further consideration.

“As we know all politics are local, and I will tell you I have known Justice Clarence Thomas’s mother for over 30 years,” Mr. Watson said as he was taking questions about his legislation on the Georgia Senate floor last year. 

Private funds would be used to erect the statue, and a committee would be formed to make the decisions about its construction, according to the lawmaker.

The Senate passed the bill last year, but several Democrats have pushed back.

At the time, one Democratic senator suggested the statue could be placed in District 1, where Mr. Watson and Justice Thomas are from, instead at the Capitol. 

Another Democratic senator, Emanuel Jones of the 10th District, called Justice Thomas a “controversial figure in the African American community.”

They complained about his rulings, saying the decisions have upset many people of color and especially women, referring to Justice Thomas joining the high court’s majority in 2022 overruling Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision that gave women a national right to abortion. Since then, the issue of abortion has gone back to the states. 

Justice Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court in 1991 after being nominated by President George H.W. Bush. 

He is the most senior GOP appointee on the court, having served for more than three decades. He is the second African American justice appointed to the court.