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A book ten years in the making, Sorcerers’ Apprentices is an intriguing and sometimes unsettling look at the world of law clerks. Most people know precious little about this field. Ward and Weiden provide an eye-opener.
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.
***************************
Artemus Ward is an assistant professor of political science at Northern Illinois University. He is also author of Deciding To Leave: the Politics of Retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court (2003).
David L. Weiden is an assistant professor in the Politics and Government section, and director of the legal studies program, at Illinois State University.
***************************
P.M. Bradshaw is a writer of poetry and fiction, and a two-time judge of the Young Adult Poetry Coffeehouse Contest at the Mount Vernon Public Library, where he also teaches a poetry workshop for adults. When not working at the Supreme Court of Ohio Law Library, he coordinates blood drives with the American Red Cross, and is a volunteer reader at VoiceCorps, a radio station that provides readings of daily newspapers, books, and the like for those with visually impairments. He is the current Chair of the Ohio Library Support Staff Institute.
Despite what Johnny Cash may have said, Mr. Bradshaw DID NOT shoot a man in Reno once, just to watch him die.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
This book poses somewhat of a conundrum. Is it an over-thought monologue on the author’s own hair color, or an exceedingly dull scholarly treatise? The answer: it is both! It’s a hodge-podge of historical references, anecdotes, and Patty Scialfa. Never delving deep enough into the history, it manages to still lay on what it does say with an all-too heavy brush, dripping with overindulgent prose.
In the end, it is sound and fury signifying… the onset of sleep. If you are in need of a never-ending supply of sleep medication, save yourself some money and buy this book. If not, don’t bother.
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(0 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)
There are two problems with this book. First, it begins with a speech given by coach Jim Tressel on January 3, 2003, just before the 2002 National Championship game. Except it never happened. The speech was a fake, written by Ken Pryor, a fan, and e-mailed and posted across the Internet. It wasn’t even meant to be a hoax, but simply something like a speech the coach might give, most sites listing Pryor as its author. Until this book, I never knew anyone had actually believed it to be anything else. It seems more than a little odd that the author didn’t contact Tressel or anyone on his staff to confirm the validity of the speech. It’s even more odd that the book’s editor didn’t either, considering that this book wasn’t published until August of 2005, more than two and half years after it was already widely known to be false.
This leads into my second problem: It seems like any “fan” of Ohio State football would have known this. But to be fair, I don’t doubt that Mr. Menzer is a fan. (He mentions in his “Acknowledgements” that at an early age he had an uncle and aunt that dressed him in OSU wear when he visited them Columbus.) It’s just that by his reasoning, all my friends would have to be considered “fanatics.” They have the football schedule months, if not a year, in advance, they have a plan for each and every game, and -to a certain degree- plan their lives around football Saturdays.
In my experience, being a Buckeye fan is something that seeps into you, like osmosis. No one dressed us up. We spoke up first, with “Where’s MY Buckeye shirt?” and “Can I have an Ohio State hat for my birthday?” or “I’m saving up for a –insert OSU item here–.” It’s a certain level of commitment that isn’t really a choice; at some point it’s just ingrained in you.
But is this a bad book? I want to say, ‘No, not at all, except for the opening, it’s a very good book.’ Unfortunately, that’s not true, because the opening puts you in a pall for the rest of the reading. Credibility is compromised. Is it written well? Absolutely, it is. Menzer is great with the turn of a word, but the validity of what follows is always in doubt.
When a young Earle Bruce sustains an injury and can’t play football for Ohio State, Woody Hayes literally jumped into his car to stop him, and ask him to get an Ohio State education regardless? He uses the word literally. I’ve seen speeches by both men, and I have never heard either say Woody, not figuratively, but literally jumped into a car.
Later, defensive tackle Nick Buonamici says to coach Hayes, “Goddammit, I did it for you, Coach,” and then jumped onto a table to reveal a tattoo. Really? He swore at Woody Hayes, in front of the whole team, then leaped onto a table? I didn’t realize there was this much jumping in Columbus, Ohio.
And at a game, it was so cold that some people were physically unable to stand afterwards? Come on. That’s way beyond even frost-bite. Hypothermia?
There are a lot of books about Ohio State football. Like this one, they all talk about the only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy, Archie Griffin, about the undefeated team of 1968, about the legend of Woody Hayes, and the storied history of the Ohio State-Michigan game.
When picking up a book about the Buckeyes, let’s just say this would not be my first choice.
***************************
Joe Menzer is a sportswriter and contributor to NASCAR.com. Born in Hamilton, Ohio, and a graduate of Bowling Green State University, he covered the Cleveland Cavaliers and the NBA for the Willoughby/Lake County News-Herald. He has contributed articles to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Washington Post, the Sporting News, and Inside Sports, amongst others. He covered the Carolina Panthers football organization for over a decade, and is the author of several books, including Cavs from Fitch to Fratello: The Sometimes Miraculous, Often Hilarious Wild Ride of the Cleveland Cavaliers (1994), The Wildest Ride: A History of NASCAR (2002), and Four Corners: How UNC, N.C. State, Duke, and Wake Forest Made North Carolina the Center of the Basketball Universe (2004).
***************************
This is best book of poetry written. Ever. Period.
Thom Ward is the author of three collections of poetry: Small Boat with Oars of Different Size, Tumblekid (winner of the Devil's Millhopper Poetry Contest), and now Various Orbits. This latest collection may be a mere ninety-six pages, but its forty-five poems are anything but light. Ranging from free verse to didactic, from anti-narrative to Pantoum, Various Orbits swings a wide arc through the poetic universe, but always returns home to the heart.
Ward’s mastery of the craft can be seen instantly in "Night Game," in which he describes the simple beauty of the moon, told as a baseball analogy. Likewise, "Though Monarchs Exploit the Disparity Among Us," an ode to ale, amongst other things, may be the most poetic drinking song ever written.
Humor is in abundance here, in "Viagra Falls" and "After Decades of Silence, Toilet Speaks," the latter told from the point of view of, well, a toilet.
This humor is balanced with the graceful art of "Poem Without a Freight Train or a Pocket Watch," "What'll It be Tonight, the Heart or the Fist?" and "Poetry Is a Game of Managing Your Mistakes." Each is an exciting turn at the Malayan/French Pantoum form. The poet's variations on this style are both intriguing and edgy.
And what can you say about "Joseph and the Boss," a poem that pulls together theology, psychology, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Sominex sleep aids, and Newark, New Jersey? It is a poem that turns the would-be comic line "...you're the propane for God's barbecue," into something like reverence.
Even "Cheesehead," though it may slip in a dry pun here and there at the expense of Green Bay Packer fans, ends as something more; something like a gentle sermon.
"Wreckage" is a similar conundrum, containing humor (she'd relinquished drinking / but everyone / could smell the poetry / on her breath), while ending in the following, very unexpected way: the sharp light / of each hour's doubt / and frustration / this clickety-clack / blue-veined volt world / we love but cannot trust, / all of us, scattering / wreckage in our wake, / in search of something / like justice, something / like mercy.
What’s most likely to catch the eye is Ward’s incredible description, in poems like "Third Night in San Francisco," "Cycling Through Taylor’s Basin," "Saranac," "Ontario," and "Seneca." Their landscapes, real or imagined, are now pictured in my mind as truly as those of my own hometown. A nd if this weren’t enough, there is more beauty to be found beneath the surface of each of these poems.
In "Saranac," the simple description of docks and boathouses, empty of summer tourists once again, evokes a certain magic. Plumb its depths, and you find lines such as: this moment balanced amid / almost and was - and -the thought of men / doing nothing useful in a world / so weary of usefulness.
Beneath the gorgeous description of "Seneca," we find: When we dive into this water, / cobalt, windblown, fierce, / we're certain to come out / on the other side of yes.
And within the lush description of small town America in "Cycling Through Taylor’s Basin," there is: I need to travel / among the old versions of who / we thought we were.
These poems may revolve around fictional people or places, but they reveal greater truths about humanity than anything else I've read or seen in years; truly a hallmark of great art, in any form.
Various Orbits is unabashedly, and undeniably, brilliant. It is beautiful, thoughtful, and funny. I would say that Ward’s poetry has a sense of magic to it, but that wouldn't be true. Ward’s poetry IS magic, and it is nothing less than magic I experience each time I read, and re-read, this book.
***************************
Mr. Ward has degrees in English from both the College of Wooster and SUNY Brockport, has been editor of more than sixty collections of poetry, and is a teacher of creative writing workshops in elementary and high schools, as well as through the Writers & Books Literary Center. He is a former chair of the Literature Panel of the New York State Council on the Arts, a recipient of numerous grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He is currently editor and development director for BOA Editions Ltd., an independent, not-for-profit poetry publishing house. He was also editor of the winner of the 2001 National Book Award for Poetry (Lucille Clifton’s Blessing the Boats).
***************************
P.M. Bradshaw is a writer of poetry and fiction, and a two-time judge of the Young Adult Poetry Coffeehouse Contest at the Mount Vernon Public Library, where he also teaches a poetry workshop for adults. When not working at the Supreme Court of Ohio Law Library, he is a volunteer reader at VoiceCorps: the Central Ohio Radio Reading Service, a radio station that provides readings of daily newspapers, books, and the like for the visually impaired and elderly.
Despite what Johnny Cash may have said, Mr. Bradshaw DID NOT shoot a man in Reno once, just to watch him die.
***************************
A book ten years in the making, Sorcerers? Apprentices is an intriguing and sometimes unsettling look at the world of law clerks. Most people know precious little about this field. Ward and Weiden provide an eye-opener.
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.
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Sorcerers' Apprentices: 100 Years of Law Clerks at the United States Supreme Court by Artemus Ward
P.M. Bradshaw, March 6, 2008
A book ten years in the making, Sorcerers’ Apprentices is an intriguing and sometimes unsettling look at the world of law clerks. Most people know precious little about this field. Ward and Weiden provide an eye-opener.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.
***************************
Artemus Ward is an assistant professor of political science at Northern Illinois University. He is also author of Deciding To Leave: the Politics of Retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court (2003).
David L. Weiden is an assistant professor in the Politics and Government section, and director of the legal studies program, at Illinois State University.
***************************
P.M. Bradshaw is a writer of poetry and fiction, and a two-time judge of the Young Adult Poetry Coffeehouse Contest at the Mount Vernon Public Library, where he also teaches a poetry workshop for adults. When not working at the Supreme Court of Ohio Law Library, he coordinates blood drives with the American Red Cross, and is a volunteer reader at VoiceCorps, a radio station that provides readings of daily newspapers, books, and the like for those with visually impairments. He is the current Chair of the Ohio Library Support Staff Institute.
Despite what Johnny Cash may have said, Mr. Bradshaw DID NOT shoot a man in Reno once, just to watch him die.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
The Roots of Desire: The Myth, Meaning, and Sexual Power of Red Hair by Marion Roach
P.M. Bradshaw, March 6, 2008
This book poses somewhat of a conundrum. Is it an over-thought monologue on the author’s own hair color, or an exceedingly dull scholarly treatise? The answer: it is both! It’s a hodge-podge of historical references, anecdotes, and Patty Scialfa. Never delving deep enough into the history, it manages to still lay on what it does say with an all-too heavy brush, dripping with overindulgent prose.In the end, it is sound and fury signifying… the onset of sleep. If you are in need of a never-ending supply of sleep medication, save yourself some money and buy this book. If not, don’t bother.
(0 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)
Buckeye Madness: The Glorious, Tumultuous, Behind-The-Scenes Story of Ohio State Football by Joe Menzer
P.M. Bradshaw, March 6, 2008
There are two problems with this book. First, it begins with a speech given by coach Jim Tressel on January 3, 2003, just before the 2002 National Championship game. Except it never happened. The speech was a fake, written by Ken Pryor, a fan, and e-mailed and posted across the Internet. It wasn’t even meant to be a hoax, but simply something like a speech the coach might give, most sites listing Pryor as its author. Until this book, I never knew anyone had actually believed it to be anything else. It seems more than a little odd that the author didn’t contact Tressel or anyone on his staff to confirm the validity of the speech. It’s even more odd that the book’s editor didn’t either, considering that this book wasn’t published until August of 2005, more than two and half years after it was already widely known to be false.This leads into my second problem: It seems like any “fan” of Ohio State football would have known this. But to be fair, I don’t doubt that Mr. Menzer is a fan. (He mentions in his “Acknowledgements” that at an early age he had an uncle and aunt that dressed him in OSU wear when he visited them Columbus.) It’s just that by his reasoning, all my friends would have to be considered “fanatics.” They have the football schedule months, if not a year, in advance, they have a plan for each and every game, and -to a certain degree- plan their lives around football Saturdays.
In my experience, being a Buckeye fan is something that seeps into you, like osmosis. No one dressed us up. We spoke up first, with “Where’s MY Buckeye shirt?” and “Can I have an Ohio State hat for my birthday?” or “I’m saving up for a –insert OSU item here–.” It’s a certain level of commitment that isn’t really a choice; at some point it’s just ingrained in you.
But is this a bad book? I want to say, ‘No, not at all, except for the opening, it’s a very good book.’ Unfortunately, that’s not true, because the opening puts you in a pall for the rest of the reading. Credibility is compromised. Is it written well? Absolutely, it is. Menzer is great with the turn of a word, but the validity of what follows is always in doubt.
When a young Earle Bruce sustains an injury and can’t play football for Ohio State, Woody Hayes literally jumped into his car to stop him, and ask him to get an Ohio State education regardless? He uses the word literally. I’ve seen speeches by both men, and I have never heard either say Woody, not figuratively, but literally jumped into a car.
Later, defensive tackle Nick Buonamici says to coach Hayes, “Goddammit, I did it for you, Coach,” and then jumped onto a table to reveal a tattoo. Really? He swore at Woody Hayes, in front of the whole team, then leaped onto a table? I didn’t realize there was this much jumping in Columbus, Ohio.
And at a game, it was so cold that some people were physically unable to stand afterwards? Come on. That’s way beyond even frost-bite. Hypothermia?
There are a lot of books about Ohio State football. Like this one, they all talk about the only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy, Archie Griffin, about the undefeated team of 1968, about the legend of Woody Hayes, and the storied history of the Ohio State-Michigan game.
When picking up a book about the Buckeyes, let’s just say this would not be my first choice.
***************************
Joe Menzer is a sportswriter and contributor to NASCAR.com. Born in Hamilton, Ohio, and a graduate of Bowling Green State University, he covered the Cleveland Cavaliers and the NBA for the Willoughby/Lake County News-Herald. He has contributed articles to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Washington Post, the Sporting News, and Inside Sports, amongst others. He covered the Carolina Panthers football organization for over a decade, and is the author of several books, including Cavs from Fitch to Fratello: The Sometimes Miraculous, Often Hilarious Wild Ride of the Cleveland Cavaliers (1994), The Wildest Ride: A History of NASCAR (2002), and Four Corners: How UNC, N.C. State, Duke, and Wake Forest Made North Carolina the Center of the Basketball Universe (2004).
***************************
Various Orbits by Thom Ward
P.M. Bradshaw, February 21, 2008
This is best book of poetry written. Ever. Period.Thom Ward is the author of three collections of poetry: Small Boat with Oars of Different Size, Tumblekid (winner of the Devil's Millhopper Poetry Contest), and now Various Orbits. This latest collection may be a mere ninety-six pages, but its forty-five poems are anything but light. Ranging from free verse to didactic, from anti-narrative to Pantoum, Various Orbits swings a wide arc through the poetic universe, but always returns home to the heart.
Ward’s mastery of the craft can be seen instantly in "Night Game," in which he describes the simple beauty of the moon, told as a baseball analogy. Likewise, "Though Monarchs Exploit the Disparity Among Us," an ode to ale, amongst other things, may be the most poetic drinking song ever written.
Humor is in abundance here, in "Viagra Falls" and "After Decades of Silence, Toilet Speaks," the latter told from the point of view of, well, a toilet.
This humor is balanced with the graceful art of "Poem Without a Freight Train or a Pocket Watch," "What'll It be Tonight, the Heart or the Fist?" and "Poetry Is a Game of Managing Your Mistakes." Each is an exciting turn at the Malayan/French Pantoum form. The poet's variations on this style are both intriguing and edgy.
And what can you say about "Joseph and the Boss," a poem that pulls together theology, psychology, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Sominex sleep aids, and Newark, New Jersey? It is a poem that turns the would-be comic line "...you're the propane for God's barbecue," into something like reverence.
Even "Cheesehead," though it may slip in a dry pun here and there at the expense of Green Bay Packer fans, ends as something more; something like a gentle sermon.
"Wreckage" is a similar conundrum, containing humor (she'd relinquished drinking / but everyone / could smell the poetry / on her breath), while ending in the following, very unexpected way: the sharp light / of each hour's doubt / and frustration / this clickety-clack / blue-veined volt world / we love but cannot trust, / all of us, scattering / wreckage in our wake, / in search of something / like justice, something / like mercy.
What’s most likely to catch the eye is Ward’s incredible description, in poems like "Third Night in San Francisco," "Cycling Through Taylor’s Basin," "Saranac," "Ontario," and "Seneca." Their landscapes, real or imagined, are now pictured in my mind as truly as those of my own hometown. A nd if this weren’t enough, there is more beauty to be found beneath the surface of each of these poems.
In "Saranac," the simple description of docks and boathouses, empty of summer tourists once again, evokes a certain magic. Plumb its depths, and you find lines such as: this moment balanced amid / almost and was - and -the thought of men / doing nothing useful in a world / so weary of usefulness.
Beneath the gorgeous description of "Seneca," we find: When we dive into this water, / cobalt, windblown, fierce, / we're certain to come out / on the other side of yes.
And within the lush description of small town America in "Cycling Through Taylor’s Basin," there is: I need to travel / among the old versions of who / we thought we were.
These poems may revolve around fictional people or places, but they reveal greater truths about humanity than anything else I've read or seen in years; truly a hallmark of great art, in any form.
Various Orbits is unabashedly, and undeniably, brilliant. It is beautiful, thoughtful, and funny. I would say that Ward’s poetry has a sense of magic to it, but that wouldn't be true. Ward’s poetry IS magic, and it is nothing less than magic I experience each time I read, and re-read, this book.
***************************
Mr. Ward has degrees in English from both the College of Wooster and SUNY Brockport, has been editor of more than sixty collections of poetry, and is a teacher of creative writing workshops in elementary and high schools, as well as through the Writers & Books Literary Center. He is a former chair of the Literature Panel of the New York State Council on the Arts, a recipient of numerous grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He is currently editor and development director for BOA Editions Ltd., an independent, not-for-profit poetry publishing house. He was also editor of the winner of the 2001 National Book Award for Poetry (Lucille Clifton’s Blessing the Boats).
***************************
P.M. Bradshaw is a writer of poetry and fiction, and a two-time judge of the Young Adult Poetry Coffeehouse Contest at the Mount Vernon Public Library, where he also teaches a poetry workshop for adults. When not working at the Supreme Court of Ohio Law Library, he is a volunteer reader at VoiceCorps: the Central Ohio Radio Reading Service, a radio station that provides readings of daily newspapers, books, and the like for the visually impaired and elderly.
Despite what Johnny Cash may have said, Mr. Bradshaw DID NOT shoot a man in Reno once, just to watch him die.
***************************
Sorcerers' Apprentices: 100 Years of Law Clerks at the United States Supreme Court by Artemus Ward
P.M. Bradshaw, July 2, 2007
A book ten years in the making, Sorcerers? Apprentices is an intriguing and sometimes unsettling look at the world of law clerks. Most people know precious little about this field. Ward and Weiden provide an eye-opener.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.
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