Clarence Thomas

In “New Controversy for the Lone Justice” (May 30), you wrote: “Unlike the other justices, [Clarence] Thomas seldom gets invited to speak at prominent law schools or to teach summer school classes in Europe.” In the past three years, the Valparaiso University School of Law has hosted three of the justices in our summer study program in Cambridge, England. In 1993, Justice Antonin Scalia lectured on the separation of powers. In 1994, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lectured on gender-based discrimination. In 1995 Chief Justice William H. Rehn- quist lectured on the history of the Supreme Court. This summer, Justice Thomas will lecture on the problem of operating state institutions such as prisons, hospitals, schools, police and fire departments and election boards through federal court orders.

Not all of the justices are interested in undertaking classroom responsibilities in the summer. To mention only living justices, the following have never participated in such programs: Justices Blackmun, Brennan, Powell, Souter and White. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor taught once in Warsaw, Poland, and Justice John Paul Stevens taught once in Innsbruck, Austria; but they both decline such invitations now. Our students recognize that it is a rare honor to explore a critical area of the law with a sitting justice. So we are delighted to have Thomas with us.

EDWARD McGLYNN GAFFNEY JR.

Dean and Professor of Law

Valparaiso University

School of Law, Valparaiso, Ind.