Justice Clarence Thomas won't teach GWU course this fall

(Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas will not teach at George Washington University Law School this fall, after his concurring opinion overturning the constitutional right to abortion prompted a public outcry.

"Justice Thomas informed GW Law that he is unavailable to co-teach a constitutional law seminar this fall," a university spokesperson said in a statement.

The university "does not have additional information to share" about whether Thomas may teach at the law school in the future, the statement said.

A spokesperson for the Supreme Court did not respond to a request for comment. Thomas has co-taught a seminar at GW Law since 2011, according to GW Hatchet, the student newspaper, which first reported that the justice would not return this fall.

Gregory Maggs, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces judge who was slated to co-teach the seminar with Thomas, could not be immediately reached.

Maggs will teach the seminar without Thomas this fall, according to the university's statement.

Critics circulated an online petition calling on the university to fire Thomas after the Supreme Court issued its June decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which left regulation of abortion access to the states.

The petition had more than 11,000 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon.

University Provost Christopher Bracey and law dean Dayna Bowen Matthew said in a campus-wide email last month that Thomas would not be fired as a law school adjunct, although his views did not represent the university or its law school.

"Like all faculty members at our university, Justice Thomas has academic freedom and freedom of expression and inquiry," the email said.

Thomas reported $10,000 in income from teaching at the Washington, D.C., law school on his 2021 financial disclosure. Such disclosures are required annually for sitting Supreme Court justices.

Read more:

Law school won't fire Clarence Thomas, despite pressure over abortion ruling

U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, ends constitutional right to abortion

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