Clarence Thomas: The Silent Justice
HOLMES: Twenty-four minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. We should say happy anniversary to one Supreme Court justice. It was on this day, five years ago, that Clarence Thomas actually spoke during oral arguments. He has been famous for this, and people have talked about and written about this over the years, but he has said himself three years ago. This was a quote from him. He says, "You can do this job without asking a single question." He has also called it a matter of courtesy said, "If I invite you to argue your case, I should at least listen to you."</s>CHETRY: Yes. That would be near impossible for me. Five years and not ask a single question. Five years!</s>HOLMES: I was going to test you just for the next minutes of the show.</s>CHETRY: That'd be impossible. Well, Vancouver, of course, is still riding high. They got to host the 2010 Winter Olympics. Well, now, they just got ranked the most livable city in the world for the fifth straight year. Thanks for the folks at the Economist Intelligence Units. It's an economist business research company. Rounding at the top three, Melbourne, Australia as well as Vienna, Austria. The report says that these cities offer the same cultural and infrastructure benefits of a larger city but without crime and without congestion. Top U.S. city on the list is Pittsburgh, PA came in at 29. Right behind it, Honolulu, Hawaii, and at number 34, Washington,</s>D.C. HOLMES: Also, another barrier broken by the same woman. She's now the first woman ever to pitch batting practice to a big league baseball team. Name is Justine Segal, threw to the Cleveland Indians yesterday. She's already broken a few other barriers, as I mentioned. She coached at the professional and college level. She attended general managers meeting back in the off-season, and she was there and she asked, hey, can I do this? The Indians GM said sure. She wore a patch honoring Christina Taylor Green, the 9-year- old granddaughter of former major league and manager, Dallas Green. Of course, Christina was shot and killed in last month shootings in Tucson.</s>CHETRY: And she didn't just seem</s>HOLMES: Nicely.</s>CHETRY: Well, another state joins the ban on so-called bath salts. These are actually legal chemicals that some say give you a high similar to cocaine or ecstasy. Quite dangerous, but still, not able to be sold in many states. Twenty-six minutes past the hour.