It is has long bothered me that the Court seems to have become ingrown. Every member of the current bench went to either Harvard or Yale Law, except Barrett who went to Notre Dame. This is a pretty typical pattern in recent decades. While there certainly is nothing wrong with going to a fine school, clerking for an outstanding judge o…
It is has long bothered me that the Court seems to have become ingrown. Every member of the current bench went to either Harvard or Yale Law, except Barrett who went to Notre Dame. This is a pretty typical pattern in recent decades. While there certainly is nothing wrong with going to a fine school, clerking for an outstanding judge on the Supreme or Court of Appeals, and then serving in the Department of Justice before going to the federal judiciary, it seems that such a path narrows one down. Without actual bare knuckle experience working with criminals, family law problems, property issues, etc., it could become easy to forget the human beings involved in real decisions and how most people are struggling to just get by. One associates with the wealthy and powerful and starts to see everything through their points of view. (A lack of knowledge of science and other cultures may also exist when one's experience is so narrow.) I am not sure what can be done, and the same problem can exist for those serving in Congress, but it is worrisome that decisions could be made very much in a vacuum.
It is has long bothered me that the Court seems to have become ingrown. Every member of the current bench went to either Harvard or Yale Law, except Barrett who went to Notre Dame. This is a pretty typical pattern in recent decades. While there certainly is nothing wrong with going to a fine school, clerking for an outstanding judge on the Supreme or Court of Appeals, and then serving in the Department of Justice before going to the federal judiciary, it seems that such a path narrows one down. Without actual bare knuckle experience working with criminals, family law problems, property issues, etc., it could become easy to forget the human beings involved in real decisions and how most people are struggling to just get by. One associates with the wealthy and powerful and starts to see everything through their points of view. (A lack of knowledge of science and other cultures may also exist when one's experience is so narrow.) I am not sure what can be done, and the same problem can exist for those serving in Congress, but it is worrisome that decisions could be made very much in a vacuum.