Arguing before the Supreme Court usually means answering pointed questions from the justices, but nervous lawyers would never have to worry about questions from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

It has been two years and 142 cases since he last asked a question:

The questions may be helpful to the others, Thomas said, but not to him.

“One thing I’ve demonstrated often in 16 years is you can do this job without asking a single question,” he told an adoring crowd at the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group.

The book tour showed that the topic comes up even among friendly audiences. Indeed, Thomas’ comment was provoked by this question: Why do your colleagues ask so many questions?

His response: “I did not plant that question. That’s a fine question. When you figure out the answer, you let me know,” he said.

Link – via kottke