The Clarence Thomas Exception

Updated on December 20 at 3 p.m.

Before Alex Kozinski, before Harvey Weinstein, before Bill Clinton, there was Clarence Thomas.

The 1991 hearings for Thomas’s confirmation to the Supreme Court became the first major moment of national attention on sexual harassment in the workplace, after allegations of past harassment lodged by Anita Hill, a former colleague, were leaked to the press. Thomas was ultimately confirmed, narrowly, but it’s difficult to imagine his nomination surviving the same accusations today. As allegations of harassment and abuse bring down powerful men in media, entertainment, and politics, Thomas has also been curiously immune to fresh scrutiny, despite the multiple, detailed accusations against him.

Thomas has always denied any misconduct and has remained silent recently, . His case is part of a peculiar pattern in which men publicly accused of misconduct before the Weinstein allegations . Thomas, unlike some of the men forced from their positions, also enjoys lifetime tenure. But the , a prominent judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals who was accused of harassment, shows that lifetime appointments