Thomas sure claims ignorance of the law a lot more than I'd expect of a Supreme Court Justice. You'd think he would have picked up a thing or two over the decades.
What he picked up was that he didn't even have to hide his contempt for the law any more. He can't just flaunt it, yet, but he doesn't have to bother working hard to hide it, either. Laws are for little people and Democrats. That's what he picked up.