Justice Thomas Hit Piece in ProPublica Wins Pulitzer Prize

The state of journalism is in sad shape when a biased hit piece against a conservative justice finds its way to the Pulitzer Prize.

However, that is exactly what happened with the ProPublica pieces that highlighted gifts given to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

On Monday, it was announced that the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service was won by ProPublica for that report.

Awarding the Hit Piece

ProPublica won one of the 15 Pulitzers that were handed out this year, with The New York Times and The Washington Post taking down a total of six of the awards.

ProPublica’s report was called “groundbreaking and ambition reporting” by the organization, saying that the report had “pierced the thick wall of secrecy surrounding the Supreme Court.”

The piece focused on the lavish gifts that have been bestowed upon Supreme Court justices, with a major focus on the gifts that were received by Justice Thomas.

The piece highlighted the relationship between Harlan Crow and Thomas, which has resulted in Thomas being able to take luxury vacations, among other benefits, all paid for by Crow.

Thomas has never considered these a violation of any kind since he and Crow are longtime friends, but the piece did not portray the relationship in that way.

Thomas refused to comment on the story, but Crow explained that the treatment given to Thomas was no different than what he and his wife had extended to their other friends.

The piece then stated, “Through his largesse, Crow has gained a unique form of access, spending days in private with one of the most powerful people in the country. By accepting the trips, Thomas has broken long-standing norms for judges’ conduct, ethics experts and four current or retired federal judges said.”

On its own, the report is horrific for Thomas, but it is far from the full picture.

For instance, Justices Ginsberg and Breyer have a long list of trips they have taken that were paid for by donors, with Ginsberg once accepting a trip from Israeli businessman Morris Kahn, who had cases of interest before the court.

In fact, Kahn won a case before the court in November 2017, with Ginsburg’s trip taking place in 2018, but nobody ever said a word.

I have no problem with anyone scrutinizing gifts given to these justices, but look at it fairly instead of picking the one justice who liberals want removed from the bench.

This was a hit piece, a biased one at that, yet it managed to win what is supposed to be the most prestigious award in news writing.