Crystal Clanton (born March 1995) is an American attorney who, as of March 2024, is a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

for Chief Judge

William H. Pryor Jr. William Holcombe Pryor Jr. (born April 26, 1962) is an American lawyer serving as the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He is a former commissioner of the United States Sentencing Commission. Previously, ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * ...

. A 2022 graduate of the

Antonin Scalia Law School The Antonin Scalia Law School (previously George Mason University School of Law) is the law school of George Mason University, a public research university in Virginia. It is located in Arlington, Virginia, roughly west of Washington, D.C., an ...

, Clanton previously clerked for Judge Corey L. Maze of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama The United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama (in case citations, N.D. Ala.) is a federal court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are a ...

. She was chosen in 2024 by

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...

Justice

Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 19 ...

to be one of his law clerks during the 2024–2025 term. She had served as the national field director for

Turning Point USA Turning Point USA (TPUSA), or Turning Point, is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for conservative politics on high school, college, and university campuses. It was founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk and Bill Montgomery. TPUSA's s ...

, but was fired from that position after sending a racist text message.

Biography

According to ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...

'', Clanton was accused of sending a text message in 2015, while she was national field director for

, saying "I HATE BLACK PEOPLE. Like fuck them all . . . I hate blacks. End of story." Clanton told ''The New Yorker'' in 2017, "I have no recollection of these messages and they do not reflect what I believe or who I am and the same was true when I was a teenager." ''Mediaite'' in 2018 said she also had sent an anti-Arab message via Snapchat. Following her departure from Turning Point USA, Clanton worked for

Ginni Thomas Virginia "Ginni" Thomas ( Lamp; born February 23, 1957) is an American attorney and conservative activist. In 1987, she married Clarence Thomas, who became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1991. Her conservati ...

, Justice Thomas's wife, and lived at the Thomases' house for almost a year. Ginni Thomas was a member of the Turning Point USA advisory council at the time of Clanton's departure. In 2021 Maze and Pryor hired Clanton to clerk for each of them, first for Maze, then for Pryor. Seven Democratic members of Congress protested the hiring in a letter to Chief Justice

John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including '' Nat ...

and Circuit Judge Charles Wilson, asking for an investigation, writing that Maze and Pryor "hired an individual with a history of nakedly racist and hateful conduct as a future law clerk in their chambers. Placing an individual with this history in such close proximity to judicial decision-making threatens to seriously undermine the public's faith in the federal judiciary." The investigation was not pursued after a ruling by the judicial council of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which stated that the judges had performed adequate due diligence, which included a reference letter from Justice Thomas. Thomas' letter said, "I know Crystal Clanton and I know bigotry. Bigotry is antithetical to her nature and character."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clanton, Crystal Living people American lawyers Antonin Scalia Law School alumni American women lawyers 1995 births