Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said the judiciary could now be the most dangerous branch of government.

Speaking at the University of Notre Dame Thursday night, Thomas criticized judges for acting like legislators.

"When we begin to venture into the legislative or executive branch lanes, those of us, particularly in the federal judiciary with lifetime appointments, are asking for trouble," Thomas said.

Thomas, the longest-serving justice on the court, spoke highly of institutions and the need to preserve them.

"I think we should be careful destroying our institutions because they don't give us what we want when we want it," he said.

The second Black Justice on the supreme court also discussed the issue of race in the U.S. He said we currently live in a “race-obsessed world.”

“We just seem like we keep dividing, subdividing into subcategories, sub-sub-categories of differences and emphasizing those differences,” Thomas said.

The South Bend Tribune says Thomas spoke at the invitation of Notre Dame's new Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government.