United States Judge Amul Thapar says that just as there’s no “Catholic” way to make a hamburger, there’s no Catholic way to interpret the law.
Drawing on the aphorism made by the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Judge Thapar, a Catholic convert, said he can only attempt to do his job “faithfully and honesty and to the best of my ability which is what I think being a Catholic and a judge represents.”
Judge Thapar spoke to The Catholic Weekly before addressing a formal dinner for staff and students at St John’s College at the University of Sydney—part of a two-week tour of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane hosted by the newly-formed International Law and Liberty Society of Australia and the Samuel Griffith Society.
Appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit by President Donald Trump, Judge Thapar is the latest in a string of remarkable guest speakers hosted by St John’s since Dr Mark Schembri was appointed as its 21st rector in July 2022.
They include former Governor of Hong Kong and Chancellor of Oxford University Chris Patten, Chief of the High Court of Australia Justice Steven Gageler, University of Sydney’s Vice Chancellor Professor Mark Scott, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns and Governor Margaret Beazley, former Governor-General of Australia David Hurley, and Chief Justice of New South Wales Andrew Bell.
Originally from a Hindu background, Judge Thapar joined RCIA classes when his wife Kim, a Catholic, was pregnant with their second child. He entered the church in 2002.
“I’m sure my teacher would say I was a nuisance in the sense that I challenged everything about the Catholic faith,” he told The Catholic Weekly.
“But everyone who went through it with me said we all became better Catholics because we had to think it through—from the Eucharist to Mary, I was willing to read different perspectives and challenge everything.
“It’s like what I talk about with law. You can read the critiques [of an approach to law] from the outside but really to do anything justice you have to go in, question it, and be open to listening.”
Judge Thapar is also promoting his recent book The People’s Justice: Clarence Thomas and the Constitutional Stories that Define Him.
It is a study of the judicial philosophy of originalism, told through 12 cases judged by the US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
“Originalism is interpreting the words on the paper as they were understood at the time,” Judge Thapar explained.
“The judge’s job when they have a dispute is to figure out not what we think the contract should mean, but what they meant at the time they signed it, so we can bind them to that.”
While originalism is the predominant judicial philosophy in the United States, the alternative, living constitutionalism, means being “governed by judges rather than the people.”
“They’re deciding what they believe belongs in the constitution and they’re applying their values to society, which takes away from the democratic process,” he argued.
Judge Thapar didn’t want to be drawn into discussing the upcoming US presidential election, but said President Trump’s running mate JD Vance, also a Catholic convert, is a personal friend and “very good, very caring person.”
“His wife worked for me and I was the one who married them before JD became Catholic,” he said.
“I was there when he came into the church. So I’m very biased, and like any family friends I hope they do well.”
Dr Schembri said Judge Thapar’s visit was a “very rare occasion” and demonstrates the college’s “sterling reputation.”
“I hope that my students understand that judges are tasked with applying the law as defined by the constitution, rather than determining competing versions of the common good—that is the role of democracy,” he said.