Supreme Court Visit
The ABA interns had the opportunity to visit the Supreme Court a few weeks ago, and while this post is therefore a few weeks late, it was an experience worth writing about! We left our office in the early afternoon to head over to the high court. The temperature was so high that we all arrived sweating and over-heated, but I was excited because we were scheduled to have a tour and speak with Scott Harris, the Clerk of the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court is not in session now, so it was relatively quiet, and we got good seats in the courtroom to hear about the history and architecture of the famous building. After the tour, we went to a conference room, where Scott joined us to talk about his work at the court. He started out as general counsel to the Supreme Court, which is sort of an unexpected job position. You would think that almost no one would try to sue the Supreme Court, but in fact the court does get involved in some litigation. Scott told us that it could be an intimidating job when the justices disagreed with his advice!
After several years as general counsel, Scott transferred to his current position as clerk. As the clerk, he is responsible for managing case files, as well as coaching parties who are at the court for oral arguments on what to expect within the courtroom. It’s an incredibly busy position because of the high volume of cases appealed to the Supreme Court. All in all, visiting the Supreme Court was an interesting way to spend an afternoon, and a very educational trip!