Clarence Thomas Says Washington DC Is 'Broken'

In a rare moment of public candor, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas called Washington, D.C. "broken," and said that partisan bickering in the nation's capital is "destroying our institutions."

Speaking at an event at the Heritage Foundation celebrating the 25th anniversary of his swearing-in to the Supreme Court, Thomas warned the audience, "The city is broken," and said "we have decided that rather than confront the disagreements and differences of opinion, we'll just simply annihilate the person who disagrees with us." He cautioned that negative rhetoric is, "destroying our institutions and undermining our institutions."

Justice Thomas, who rarely speaks from the bench, admitted there are some opinions that he has struggled with, "cases where your heart goes one way but you have got to stick with the law, those are really hard opinions. I think those are the ones you think a lot about," he said. "Those are ones where your hair begins to fall out."

Throughout the evening, Thomas talked about his passion to make his opinions understandable. "I think we're obligated to make the constitution and what we write about the Constitution accessible to our fellow citizens. That empowers people by giving them a sense of the Constitution."

The audience was entertained when he explained his relationship with his good friend and former colleague on the Supreme Court, Antonin Scalia. "We did not go to the Kennedy Center to go see operas. I used to kid him about it and said I like opera I just don't want to be around people who like opera."