SCOTUS Justices’ Choice of Clerks Lack Diversity

Capping an elite law school education with a federal clerkship, preferably at the U.S. Supreme Court, is the Holy Grail for fledgling attorneys. Securing a top clerkship is the fast track to professional legal success and financial security, but it’s a route long dominated by white men.

As far back as 1998, and likely farther, white men held 85 percent of Supreme Court clerkships, according to numbers compiled then by USA Today. Women lagged far behind, and blacks and Hispanics held only a sliver of such jobs.

Most major law firms today have opened their ranks to a broader spectrum ...