The comments marked one of the few times justices have spoken openly on the issue this year. The two appeared before the House Appropriations subcommittee on commerce, justice, state and judiciary to make the court's annual appropriation request. We do not look any place. We do not recruit. We are passive.
Clerks help the justices screen new cases, do research and draft opinions.
Souter and Thomas said the justices rely on recommendations from law schools and from lower federal courts, where most young lawyers serve as clerks before being hired at the Supreme Court. Rep. Dixon suggested the justices may be relying too heavily on a limited number of law schools, such as those at Harvard, Yale, Stanford and the University of Chicago. She was looking for women. It calls for extending non-discriminatory hiring practices to the judicial branch of the government. Rehnquist declined a request to discuss the issue with an association of African-American lawyers.