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Sorcerers' Apprentices: 100 Years of Law Clerks at the United States Supreme Court Kindle Edition
Law clerks have been a permanent fixture in the halls of the United States Supreme Court from its founding, but the relationship between clerks and their justices has generally been cloaked in secrecy. While the role of the justice is both public and formal, particularly in terms of the decisions a justice makes and the power that he or she can wield in the American political system, the clerk has historically operated behind closed doors. Do clerks make actual decisions that they impart to justices, or are they only research assistants that carry out the instructions of the decision makers—the justices?
Based on Supreme Court archives, the personal papers of justices and other figures at the Supreme Court, and interviews and written surveys with 150 former clerks, Sorcerers’ Apprentices is a rare behind-the-scenes look at the life of a law clerk, and how it has evolved since its nineteenth-century beginnings. Artemus Ward and David L. Weiden reveal that throughout history, clerks have not only written briefs, but made significant decisions about cases that are often unseen by those outside of justices' chambers. Should clerks have this power, they ask, and, equally important, what does this tell us about the relationship between the Supreme Court’s accountability to and relationship with the American public?
Sorcerers’ Apprentices not only sheds light on the little-known role of the clerk but offers provocative suggestions for reforming the institution of the Supreme Court clerk. Anyone that has worked as a law clerk, is considering clerking, or is interested in learning about what happens in the chambers of Supreme Court justices will want to read this engaging and comprehensive examination of how the role of the law clerk has evolved over its long history.
- ISBN-13978-0814794203
- PublisherNYU Press
- Publication dateApril 1, 2006
- LanguageEnglish
- File size2841 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Provides excellent insight into the inner workings of the Supreme Court, how it selects cases for review, what pressures are brought to bear on the justices, and how the final opinions are produced. Recommended for all academic libraries." ― Library Journal
"Well-written, needed, and nicely done." ― Choice
"Ward and Weiden have produced that rare book that is both a meticulous piece of scholarship and a good read. The authors have . . . sifted through a varied and voluminous amount of archival material, winnowing out the chaff and leaving the excellent wheat for our consumption. They marry this extensive archival research with original survey data, using both to great effect." ― Law and Politics Book Review
"Helps illuminate the inner workings of an institution that is still largely shrouded in mystery." ― The Wall Street Journal Online
About the Author
Artemus Ward is assistant professor of political science at Northern Illinois University, and author of Deciding To Leave: The Politics of Retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Product details
- ASIN : B0028MVGTM
- Publisher : NYU Press (April 1, 2006)
- Publication date : April 1, 2006
- Language : English
- File size : 2841 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 353 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,498,117 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #181 in Courts
- #483 in Legal History (Kindle Store)
- #733 in Courts & Law
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Artemus Ward is professor of political science at Northern Illinois University. He received his Ph.D. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship at Syracuse University and was a Congressional Fellow on the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, DC. His books include Deciding to Leave: The Politics of Retirement from the United States Supreme Court (2003), Sorcerers' Apprentices: 100 Years of Law Clerks at the United States Supreme Court (2006), In Chambers: Stories of Law Clerks and Their Justices (2012), The Puzzle of Unanimity: Consensus on the United States Supreme Court (2013), and American Judicial Process: Myth and Reality in Law and Courts (2015). His articles have appeared in such outlets as Congress & the Presidency, Journal of Supreme Court History, Justice System Journal, Marquette Law Review, Political Analysis, Tulsa Law Review, and White House Studies. His research and commentary has been featured by the New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, NBC Nightly News, Fox News, and C-SPAN and he is a two-time award winner of the Hughes-Gossett Prize for historical excellence from the Supreme Court Historical Society.
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Being a law clerk is to basically be a research assistant for a judge. Being that the United States Supreme Court is the highest court in the land, being a clerk for an U.S. Supreme Court judge (a `Justice') is the pinnacle in this field. As former clerks to a Supreme Court Justice, these young men and women will be the most sought after candidates at law firms across the country. Many will later be offered judgeships themselves.
After a decade of research, pouring through the personal papers of justices and court employees, and interviews with former clerks, the authors discovered that the law clerk went from being little more than a secretary in the 1930's to a position of enormous power today. Perhaps the greatest power is in the "certiorari process" of choosing what cases the Supreme Court will hear. Of the over 8,000 cases submitted annually to the Supreme Court, only a few hundred perhaps will be heard. It would appear that the law clerks suggestions to their respective Justices on which cases to hear has had a great impact on the types of cases heard. And changes on the constitutionality of specific laws in specific areas literally changes people's lives.
Another issue of concern is that for some Justices, the bulk of their decisions may come not from legal research, but from the opinions written by their law clerks. Some have gone so far as to say that in some cases it is the law clerk who actually writes the final opinion; the Justice simply signing it. Others point out that the opinions expressed verbally by law clerks to their Justice may actually hold more sway over a decision than the attorneys presenting the case.
Filled with quotes, text, research, analyses, and charts galore, Sorcerers' Apprentices: 100 Years of Law Clerks at the United States Supreme Court is a revealing look at the workings of the U.S. Supreme Court. It sheds light on an institution that few in America have any knowledge about, but that affects us all. Ward and Weiden present nearly as many questions in this book as they do insights. Do law clerks have more power than they used to? Do they have more power than they should? Should this be rectified, and if so, how? In the end, Sorcerers' Apprentices is a fascinating look at a world few ever see.