This week congress is grappling with sexual harassment among governmental officials. @SenGillibrand and @RepSpeier introduced the #MeTooCongress Act to address better training and accountability. But what about the sitting #SCOTUS judge accused by Anita Hill 26 yrs ago? 
In 1991 Pres Bush (now dealing with his own accusations of #sexualharassment) nominated Clarence Thomas to fill Thurgood Marshall's seat on the Supreme Court.
Thomas' hearings went along without much controversy until a private interview by the FBI of Anita Hill was leaked to the press. Hearings were then reopened and Anita Hill, then a prof of law at the University of Oklahoma, was called to testify.
Hill recounted Thomas asking her out on multiple occasions and "spoke about...such matters as women having sex with animals and films showing group sex or rape scenes," he graphically described "his own sexual prowess" and anatomy. nytimes.com/1991/10/08/us/…
You can still watch her powerful testimony in front of a panel of all white men detailing the embarrassing details of Thomas' harassment
Four female witnesses reportedly were waiting to support Hill's credibility, but they were not called, due to what the LA Times described as a private, compromise deal between Republicans and the Senate Judiciary Committee Chair, Democrat Joe Biden
The senate panel treated Hill as if she was lying and asked her detailed sexual questions. It was even suggested that she may have suffered from “erotomania,” Many criticized Biden for not protecting her theroot.com/joe-biden-need…
After much controversy Thomas was confirmed by a narrow margin which included the votes of 11 democrats. He remains on the court as one of its most conservative justices who rarely writes opinions or asks questions in oral arguments
While many journalists have brought up Bill Clinton's past accusations, @AngryBlackLady in @Rewire_News has emphasized that a reckoning with the treatment of Anita Hill and a sitting #SCOTUS judge is more important rewire.news/ablc/2017/11/1…
Many others are drawing connections between the hearings 26 yrs ago and the current wave of #sexualharassment allegations actually making the news. Wendy Sherman notes the similar issues in believing women time.com/5018066/anita-…
Hill says she is “hopeful” that, in light of the Weinstein affair and other recent sexual-harassment revelations against powerful bosses, “people will revisit the women” who accused Trump and says we need to “We need to transfer the believability” newyorker.com/news/news-desk…
As we continue with the current focus on #MeToo and the #MeTooCongress act we must remember that this is still a hard road for women and they need support. Please visit orgs like @RAINN01 @nwlc @FemMajority feminist.org/911/harasswhat…
says "like Trump, and unlike Bill Clinton, Thomas sits in power still; with the authority to make life and death decisions over the fate of those facing capital punishment, those needing health care, and most ironically, over the rights and liberties of women"
"As happened with Trump, Thomas’ elevation despite the shocking allegations against him ignited women to action. In 1992, a record number of women ran for federal office" thedailybeast.com/as-we-rethink-…
