In a rare public appearance, Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas hinted that the nation’s highest court may very well be considering tearing up legal precedents that have been in effect for decades, and some nearly a century old. "At some point we need to think about what we're doing with stare decisis," Thomas said, according to a Saturday report from ABC News. "And it's not some sort of talismanic deal where you can just say 'stare decisis' and not think, turn off the brain, right?" The Supreme Court is poised to reconvene at the beginning of October for its next term next, and may have several cases reach its desk that challenge longstanding legal precedents. And you could go up there in the engine room, find it's an orangutan driving the train, but you want to follow that just because it's a train," Thomas said.