Ilana Eisenstein, an assistant to the U.S. solicitor arguing the third Supreme Court case in her career, was about to sit down after ending her oral argument early on Monday when a booming voice said, “Ms. Eisenstein, one question.”

The voice was that of Justice Clarence Thomas, who just a week earlier had passed the 10-year anniversary of the last question he asked during oral argument—a milestone that some used to criticize the justice for not being fully engaged.