Even a broken clock is right twice a day!
Three liberal Justices have just sided with Justice Clarence Thomas in a lawsuit brought by a U.S. Army veteran.
In the lawsuit that was previously dismissed by a lower court, a U.S. Army veteran sued a military contractor after a member of the Taliban who was working with the contractor detonated a suicide vest, leaving the U.S. Army soldier injured.
Justice Thomas wrote in his majority opinion that military contractors are not shielded from liability on the battlefield if their conduct was not authorized by the Pentagon.
Fox News reported more on the Supreme Court’s ruling and how other Justices voted:
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed a lawsuit brought by a U.S. Army veteran injured in a Taliban suicide bombing to proceed, vacating a lower court ruling that had dismissed it.
Winston Tyler Hencely, a former U.S. Army specialist, suffered a fractured skull and brain injuries when a Taliban operative working for a military contractor blew up a suicide vest at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan in 2016.
The majority opinion, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, rejected a broad “battlefield preemption” theory that would have blocked state-law claims tied to combat activities. Thomas — joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson — wrote that military contractors are not automatically shielded from liability when their conduct was not authorized by the military — even in war zones.
“We vacate the judgment of the Fourth Circuit and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion,” Wednesday’s decision says.
“In 2016, a Taliban operative working for respondent Fluor Corporation, a military contractor, carried out a suicide-bomb attack at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. After then-Army Specialist Winston T. Hencely confronted him, the bomber detonated his suicide vest,” the opinion explains. “As a result of the injuries he received, Hencely is now permanently disabled.”
“In an effort to recover damages for his injuries, Hencely sued Fluor, bringing state-law tort claims for negligently retaining and supervising the attacker. According to Hencely and the United States military, Fluor’s conduct was not authorized by the military and even violated instructions the military had given it as a condition of operating on the base,” the opinion notes.
Justice Alito, joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kavanaugh, dissents. "May a State regulate security arrangements on a military base in an active warzone? May state judges and juries pass judgment on questions that are inextricably tied to military decisions…?" No. pic.twitter.com/7i6Q8elaOq
— Eric W. (@EWess92) April 22, 2026
AP reported on the conservative Justices who dissented:
Justices Samuel Alito, John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh dissented. Alito wrote that Hencely’s lawsuit may intrude on the government’s wartime powers and decisions, including a policy requiring contractors to maximize employment of Afghans.
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Justice Clarence Thomas recently went viral on X after giving a speech on progressivism:
🔥NEW: Clarence Thomas — full remarks on progressivism, its foundations, history, and impact from his appearance at University of Texas at Austin:
“Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Mao were all intertwined with the rise of progressivism, and all were opposed to the natural rights… pic.twitter.com/FF6dukVL26
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) April 16, 2026
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