Justice Clarence Thomas is finding increasingly creative ways to justify reshaping long-standing laws.

During a rare appearance at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, the George W. Bush–appointed justice said the Supreme Court should take a more critical approach to settled precedent, arguing that decided cases are not “the gospel,” ABC News reported.

Thomas, 77, reasoned that some precedents were simply “something somebody dreamt up and others went along with.”

“At some point we need to think about what we’re doing with stare decisis‚" Thomas said, referring to the legal principle of abiding by precedent. “And it’s not some sort of talismanic deal where you can just say ‘stare decisis’ and not think, turn off the brain, right?”

Thomas, the Co

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