Patrick Whitehead, who is on the general counsel to Palm Beach Atlantic University, met with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at Palm Beach Atlantic University in February 2014 for a LeMieux Center event.
Justice Thomas spoke about life lessons and shared personal stories regarding his path with the attendees. Speaking before the group of college students, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas bemoaned how “sensitive” Americans have become over issues of race and other markers of social “difference.” Thomas also weighed in on matters of faith, implying that non-believers are incapable of making a “meaningful” oath. “I quite frankly don’t know how you do these hard jobs without some faith. I don’t know. Other people can come to you and explain it to you,” he said. “I have no idea. I don’t know how an oath becomes meaningful unless you have faith. Because at the end you say, ‘So help me God.’ And a promise to God is different from a promise to anyone else.”