Baird Johnson | Supreme Court of the United States (Washington, DC)
I had the immense pleasure of working as a summer intern for the Supreme Court of the United States. I was indeed “in the room where it happened.” Listening to the majority opinions and dissents in person is remarkably different from reading them after the fact, and it is an experience I will not soon forget. Yet, that aspect of my internship was not the better part of my responsibilities. There are four offices within the Court who participate in the internship program: The Office of the Counselor of the Chief Justice, Office of the Curator, the Public Information Office, and the Office of the Clerk. I chose to apply to the Office of the Clerk. For all matters of Court business, the Clerk and his staff connect the Justices to the outside world.
As the Court explains, “The Office of the Clerk was established on February 3, 1790, with the appointment of the first Clerk of Court. The primary role of the Clerk’s Office is to receive, docket, and retain control of all documents submitted for filing with the Court. The Office also prepares and issues orders, judgments, and mandates of the Court; calendars cases for oral argument; notifies counsel and lower courts of actions taken by the Court; oversees the admission of attorneys to the Court’s Bar; develops and issues the Court’s rules; and provides procedural guidance to attorneys and litigants.” Scott S. Harris is the current Clerk. An interesting piece of trivia involving the Clerk is that one of the duties used to be holding the Bible at presidential inaugurations. The last time that happened was John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961. In 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson’s wife Lady Bird Johnson began the tradition of the First Lady holding the Bible.
As an Intern in the Clerk’s Office, I provided assistance in responding to case-related inquiries from attorneys and litigants. I also aided Clerk’s Office employees with general office duties including data entry and the organization of current Court documents. While this may seem dry and unexciting, I found going to work each day fascinating. Responding to case-related inquiries doesn’t describe the satisfaction of helping someone obtain possibly life changing information. Nor does the maintenance of Court filings begin to describe the gratification in supporting an institution as important and inspiring as the Court. Behind every news garnering court case are hundreds of phone calls and pieces of paper - I took great pride in ensuring the piece of paper made its way to the correct folder.
I also benefited from weekly seminars with Supreme Court Fellows for a more in depth look at the workings of the Court and the federal judiciary as a whole. It was there I met the interns in the Court’s other offices. This experience piqued my interest in the possibility of serving as a Fellow.
I’ve often described myself as more of an institutionalist than a partisan. In the Clerk's office we are all institutionalists; there is no room for politics, and I found that environment wonderfully refreshing - especially on Capitol Hill. Insofar as this internship fitting in with my studies and career interests, that is a resounding yes. I plan to attend law school next year with a focus on constitutional law and hope to eventually clerk for a Supreme Court Justice. This opportunity would have been impossible without the generous assistance of Stanford’s History Department.
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