The recent confirmation hearings of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court once again illustrated how the Senate Judiciary Committee does little more than exhibit partisan proclivities by pandering to interest groups through attacking or defending nominees rather than raising more substantive, nonpartisan questions about how the structure of judicial institutions affect their decisions. Now that she has been confirmed, it is clear that one area that was in need of more attention was her plans for the selection and use of her law clerks.
A Supreme Court clerkship is a singular experience. For a short but exhilarating time, these young men and women have a front-row seat to the inner workings of the nation’s highest court as they work shoulder-to-shoulder with Supreme Court justices on the most important constitutional and political issues of the day. What is also unique, however, are the lengths to which current and former clerks remain hidden in the shadows of their justices’ robes. The Court’s operations have become almost exclusively handled by law clerks, and the justices routinely require their clerks to prepare the first drafts of opinions (Justice John Paul Stevens is the lone exception), as well as the written memoranda that summarize the certiorari petitions filed with the Supreme Court and recommend whether the justices grant or deny each case.
