Women Suddenly Scarce Among Justices’ Clerks

NY Times ^ | August 29, 2006 | LINDA GREENHOUSE

[jdm]

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 — Everyone knows that with the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the number of female Supreme Court justices fell by half. The talk of the court this summer, with the arrival of the new crop of law clerks, is that the number of female clerks has fallen even more sharply.

Just under 50 percent of new law school graduates in 2005 were women. Yet women account for only 7 of the 37 law clerkships for the new term, the first time the number has been in the single digits since 1994, when there were 4,000 fewer women among the country’s new law school graduates than there are today.

Last year at this time, there were 14 female clerks, including one, Ann E. O’Connell, who was hired by William H. Rehnquist, the chief justice who died before the term began. His successor, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., then hired Ms. O’Connell.

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who joined the court in January, hired Hannah Smith, who had clerked for him on the appeals court where he had previously served. So by the end of the term, and counting Ms. O’Connell twice, there were 16 women among the 43 law clerks hired by last term’s justices.

[jdm]

Aw geez, not this stuff again! :O)

[Shermy]

More fallout from global warming.

[digger48]

Some speculated that Justice Antonin Scalia, who hired only two women among 28 law clerks during the last seven years and who will have none this year, could not find enough conservative women to meet his test of ideological purity.

Purely unbiased newsreporting there

[Terpfen]

The New York Times is angry about a lack of quotas. I'm shocked!

[sitkaspruce]

It's Bush's fault.

[Carry_Okie]

If the liberals can't control the justices, they'll control the clerks that work for them.

They never give up.

[umgud]

Ah, the Bush Doctrine strikes again.

[confrico]

outrageous! this makes me wanna vomit and faint!

[Mr. Blonde]

One who is in that position, Justice Souter, said he was disappointed to find himself without any female clerks. He explained that he had hired the top four applicants, who turned out to be men.

This kind of sums it up. Heaven forbid you choose based on who is best.

[lentulusgracchus]

More fallout from global warming.

.....proving unequivocally that it's Bush's fault.

[lentulusgracchus]

NY Times ^ | August 29, 2006 | LINDA GREENHOUSE

Ahhh, c'mon, Linda -- blow that pigsty and go get yourself a real job somewhere. Aren't there a couple of law reviews you'd rather work for?

[Milhous]

If the liberals can't control the justices, they'll control the clerks that work for them.

They never give up.

Bush needs to nominate Janet Rogers Brown to fill the next vacancy to get the number of female Supreme Court justices back to where it belongs.

[Al Simmons]

WTF cares? They should pick the best qualified people they feel most comfortable with. Period. And let the chips fall where they may!

[HitmanLV]

Some speculated that Justice Antonin Scalia, who hired only two women among 28 law clerks during the last seven years and who will have none this year, could not find enough conservative women to meet his test of ideological purity.

I should hope he has a test of ideological purity! :-)

[HitmanLV]

Some speculated that Justice Antonin Scalia, who hired only two women among 28 law clerks during the last seven years and who will have none this year, could not find enough conservative women to meet his test of ideological purity.

I should hope he has a test of ideological purity! :-)

[Larry Lucido]

If I ever make the Supreme Court, I'll do my part and surround myself with female clerks.

[Al Simmons]

Of course, Justice Souter must also be deeply disappointed that he's never found any women during his entire life as well...say didn't he get mugged one night a few years back in a DC park notorious for being a nightly hangout for those practicing certsin "alternative lifestyles" of the male gender? Wonder why he decided to walk home through there, don't you?

[cardinal4]

Nowadays when I see the NYT byline, I know its for entertainment purposes only..

[Koblenz]

Just under 50 percent of new law school graduates in 2005 were women. Yet women account for only 7 of the 37 law clerkships for the new term, the first time the number has been in the single digits since 1994

So some relevant questions to determine if there's actually gender bias.

I don't really care what percentage of law school graduates were women. I care about what percentage of law school graduates were women at the top 14 law schools (Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, NYU, Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, Duke, Northwestern, Cornell, UC Berkeley, and Georgetown).

What were the grades of the relevant male and female students at these schools who applied to be clerks at the Supreme Court? Did any women or men who were offered clerkships decline them to work somewhere else? How many women and how many men applied for clerk jobs?

[alnick]

Having read only the headline, let me guess: Bush's fault.