Clerks of the Justices

DESCRIPTION: Employees of the Supreme Court who assist the justices in research, selecting the petitions for certiorari worthy of review and writing the opinions at the decision-on-the-merits stage. SIGNIFICANCE: Although controversy continues surrounding the extent of influence that clerks wield in the Supreme Court’s decision-making and opinion-writing processes, there is little debate regarding the role they play in screening the more than eight thousand petitions for writs of certiorari filed each October ter