Under the Robes: Secrets of the Supreme Court

Thomas has such a libertarian view of the original intent of the framers of the Constitution that he prepares his new clerks by requiring them to watch the 1949 movie version of Ayn Rand's classic homage to individualism, "The Fountainhead."

Although they shared similar judicial philosophies, Justice Antonin Scalia thought that Thomas was more extreme than he was. Asked to compare his views to those held by Thomas, Scalia once said, "I am an originalist but I am not a nut."

Although he personally abhorred homosexuality, Thomas became friendly with one of the Court's clerks, a lesbian, whose partner was a professional snowboarder. "He liked the two of them so much that for a while he kept a photograph of the snowboarder on his desk."

Even though they disagree on most issues, Thomas has a very friendly relationship with Justice Steven Breyer. They passed notes on the bench, mocking each other's positions. "State's right uber alles," Breyer would jot and Thomas would retort, "Always for the criminal, eh?"

Despite his tough stance on criminals and his emphasis on self-sufficiency, Thomas adopted his 6-year-old grandnephew, Mark Martin Jr, because the boy's father was in jail on cocaine trafficking charges and his mother was struggling to raise four children on her own.

Thomas' pride and joy is his custom-made 40-foot Prevost motor coach, with leather furniture, satellite television and onboard galley, in which he and his wife travel around the country, parking near NASCAR races and Wal-Mart parking lots. A photo of the RV sits proudly on his desk alongside photos of Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass and Winston Churchill.

Thomas doesn't forget his enemies -- for years, he kept a list in his desk of the roll-call vote in his 52-48 confirmation. Also on his enemies list: is most of the press corps ("the happiest day of his life was when he canceled his subscription to The Washington Post") and his alma mater, Yale Law School (he keeps a "Yale Sucks" bumper sticker on the mantel of his chambers because he believes the school treated him paternalistically and he has never returned to the school for moot court or speeches; in general his rule with speaking engagements is "I don't do Ivies").

Thomas wasn't always such an ultra-conservative. During his college days at Holy Cross, he was an "overall-wearing Black Panther devotee with inchoate dreams of changing the world." Now he jokes about his Afrocentric worldview in those days, which inspired the name of his son. "We called him Jamal, so you can see where my head was in those days."

Thomas has earned more financial benefits from his job than any of the other justices, largely due to the generosity of his conservative fans. Though Rupert Murdoch's Harper Collins paid him $500,000 as part of a $1.5 million book advance, Thomas had still not delivered a manuscript after three years. Among the gifts he's received from admirers: a Bible once owned by Frederick Douglass, tires and $5,000 for his grandnephew's education.