Monday morning, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas broke his impressive seven-year courtroom silence with a stupid Yale joke. Or at least that's what people think he said – the official transcriber (somewhat appropriately) failed to record the entire comment, although they did note it produced some laughter.

JUSTICE SCALIA: She was a graduate of Yale law school, wasn't she?
MS. SIGLER: She's a very impressive attorney.
JUSTICE SCALIA: And another of his counsel, Mr. Singer - of the three that he had - he was a graduate of Harvard law school, wasn't he?
MS. SIGLER: Yes, Your Honor.
JUSTICE SCALIA: Son of a gun.
JUSTICE THOMAS: Well - he did not -(Laughter.)
MS. SIGLER: I would refute that, Justice Thomas.

According to Bloomberg, Thomas "quipped that a Yale degree could be a sign of incompetence, rather than competence." Pretty weak, considering it's the first comment Thomas has made in court since February 22, 2006. And, in case you're not up to date on your Supreme Court Justice – law school beefs, Thomas has had it out for Yale Law, his alma mater, for some time now; in his 2007 memoir, Thomas wrote that he once "peeled a 15-cent price sticker off a package of cigars and stuck it on the frame of my law degree to remind myself of the mistake I'd made by going to Yale."

[Image via AP]