Justice Thomas Reports Wealth of Gifts

Thomas reported receiving gifts nearly every year he has been on the high court. They included $100 worth of cigars from talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh, a $500 Stetson hat from the Houston Club, and another $150 worth of cigars from Kansas City businessman Tim Trabon, who said he had never met the justice. He also took a $375 "performance chip," a gift from a Corvette supplier he met at a rally, for the computer on his Corvette.

There was an $800 Daytona 500 commemorative jacket after Thomas served as grand marshal at the race in 1999, $1,200 worth of tires from a businessman in Omaha in 2002 and $1,375 in cowboy boots, Stetson hats, rawhide coat and a silver buckle after engagements in Texas in 1995 and 1996.

The only year Thomas listed no gifts or club memberships was 2003, the year he reported receiving $500,000 as part of a reported $1.5-million book contract for an autobiography with HarperCollins, a division of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Another businessman who calls Thomas a friend is Earl Dixon. A pest control company executive in Jacksonville, Fla., and former Republican state legislator, Dixon is also a motor-home enthusiast -- a hobby shared by Thomas. He said they met about four years ago at a motor-coach repair shop in Florida.

Their friendship grew, Dixon said, and when he learned that Thomas was raising a grand-nephew, he gave the justice a $5,000 check to defray his education costs.

"I enjoy talking with him. I enjoy visiting with him. He's a class act," Dixon said of the justice.

In 2001, the same year Crow gave him the Douglass Bible, the American Enterprise Institute -- of which Crow is a trustee -- presented Thomas with a bust of Lincoln that the justice valued at $15,000. The think tank praised him for his "clear, consistent, and courageous jurisprudence" on the Supreme Court.

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Gifts accepted by Supreme Court

Federal judges are free to accept gifts of unlimited value as long as the donor does not have business before them. Five of the Supreme Court justices reported and accepted gifts from 1998 through 2003. Here is the list, as valued by the justices:

Justice Clarence Thomas

Total value of gifts: $42,200

* $19,000 Bible from Republican donor

* $15,000 for a Lincoln bust from the American Enterprise Institute

* $5,000 cash gift from a mobile home enthusiast

* $1,200, tires from a trucking executive