Howard is a traditionally black university with a well-regarded law school that produced the nation's first black justice, Thurgood Marshall, but only one law clerk in history. It's a very unfortunate situation. Smith says a Howard grad from the early 1980s is the only graduate of one of the four traditionally black law schools in the nation to serve as a Supreme Court law clerk. Margaret Tuitt, who helps Harvard law school graduates obtain clerkships, says the university has tried to encourage more minority students to aim for clerk positions at the high court. Success has been elusive, she says.
Finances are a factor, and a lot of people feel the burden is too high.
She says many minority Harvard graduates emerge saddled with debt, unable to make the commitment to two years of relatively low pay that comes with clerking at the appeals court and Supreme Court. But many people cannot afford to wait. And the problem is self-perpetuating. Stevens, like Luttig and other justices, often enlists his clerks to help screen future candidates, and they usually advance the names of students they know. But I do think the justices should make a more detailed search.