Does the Supreme Court Represent the Citizens of America?
Every fall in the United States thousands of first year law students, start law school. Most have a dream of some day sitting on the Supreme Court bench. However, very few if any of those students will ever sit in the United States Capital on the Supreme Court. There are one hundred and ninety nine accredited law schools, according to the ABA and over a hundred unaccredited law schools in the United States. There are over one million one hundred forty three thousand three hundred fifty eight lawyers today in the United States, according to the ABA. There are only nine seats on the Supreme Court at any one time. The likelihood of winning the lottery is probably more likely for a lawyer than acquiring one of those seats on the Supreme Court.
It has recently been announced that in the next couple of months Judge John Paul Stevens, the senior associate on the Supreme Court, will be retiring. So one of the one million one hundred forty three thousand three hundred fifty eight lawyers is about to get a new job on the United States Supreme Court. There have been several candidates recently named for this position. No one knows who will get the position but it is likely that only a very extremely elite group of lawyers from Ivy League schools in the northeast will even be considered. There are fifty states in the United States but if one carefully reviews the Supreme Court Justices, one will notice that for many years the Ivy Leagues have dominated the Supreme Court. Further, one would also notice that the Supreme Court member's religion plays a role in the selection as well. It is my intention to outline the colleges that the current Supreme Court Justices sitting on the Supreme Court attended to show a bias for three Ivy League schools. Further, it is my intention to outline the potential candidate's education for the soon to be open seat on the Supreme Court to show that the President is looking at continuing to allow the Supreme Court to be dominated by Ivy League Northeasterners. I believe the public will be startled when they see just how elitist getting on the United States Supreme Court is. This situation needs to be corrected by President Obama, who is the "Peoples President' of America. He should considered appointing Supreme Court Justices from all over the United States while he is sitting as President of the United States in Washington. For far too long the Supreme Court has been an elitist Ivory Tower dominated by Harvard University and New York lawyers. It is time for the Supreme Court to represent the people of the United States of America all across this great land. President Obama needs to look at this list and how lopsided it is. When you consider that, we have over one hundred and ninety nine accredited law schools across the United States.
Currently sitting on the Supreme Court is John Roberts; he is Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He was born in Buffalo New York. His family moved to northern Indiana when his father retired as the CEO of Bethlehem Steel. He graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School. While at Harvard Law School, he was managing editor of the Harvard Law Review. He taught at Georgetown University for several years as well during his career as a lawyer. Justice Roberts is one of six Catholics on the Supreme Court.
Another lawyer on the Supreme Court bench is Stephen G. Breyer. He grew up in San Francisco California where his father was a lawyer. He received a B.A. in philosophy at Stanford University. He then attended Magadalen College in Oxford and received a bachelor of law degree. Upon returning to the United States, he received an LLB at Harvard University. He practiced law a few years and taught at Harvard University from 1967 until 1994. Justice Breyer is one of the two Jews on the Supreme Court.
The third lawyer to attend Harvard Law School currently sitting on the bench is Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was born in Brooklyn New York and received her B.A. at Cornell University at Ithaca New York. She attended Harvard Law School and had already been put on the Harvard Law Review when her husband graduated and got a job in New York. She then transferred to the University of Columbia Law School and was placed on law review. Ms. Ginsberg during her career taught at Rutgers Law and Columbia University. Also during the summers, she taught at Tulane University. Justice Ginsberg is one of the two Jews currently serving on the Supreme Court.
The fourth Harvard trained lawyer on the United States Supreme Court currently is Anthony M. Kennedy. He was born and raised in Sacramento California. He received his B.A. from Stanford University in California. He attended his senior year of under graduate school at the London School of Economics. He received his law degree from Harvard University Law School. Mr. Kennedy has been teaching for years at the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific. He teaches each summer, as he sits on the bench, at Salzberg Austria. Justice Kennedy is one of the six Catholics serving on the Supreme Court.
The fifth Justice on the bench to be trained at Harvard Law School is Antonin Scalia. He is the first Italian Supreme Court Justice even though he never learned to speak Italian in his home as it was not allowed by his parents. Justice Scalia was raised in TrentonNew Jersey. He attended school in New York, which is where his family moved when he was a little boy. Justice Scalia obtained his under graduate degree at Georgetown University in Washington DC. During the time, he was at Georgetown University he went to Fribourg Switzerland to study. He attended law school at Harvard Law School and was notes editor for the Harvard Law Review. After graduating, he became a Sheldon Fellow at Harvard. That fellowship allowed him to travel to Europe. During the time, that Justice Scalia was practicing law he taught at the University of Virginia, the University of Chicago and a visiting professor at Stanford in California. Justice Scalia is famous for being one of the first faculty advisors for the Federalist Society at a law school in the United States. Justice Scalia is one of the six Catholics serving on the Supreme Court.
The sixth Supreme Court Justice that should be looked at closely is John Paul Stevens. Justice Stevens is the Justice retiring this term. He is currently the oldest member of the Court. He is from Chicago Illinois. He obtained his B.A. degree at the University of Chicago. He was working on a master's degree when he decided to join the United States Navy. While in the Navy, he became an intelligence officer in the Pacific Theater between 1942 and 1945. Justice Stevens during his military time was awarded a bronze star for his code breaking team whose work led to the downing of the Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's plane in 1943. When he finished his military tour, he enrolled in Northwestern University School of Law where he had the highest GPA in the history of the school in Chicago. Justice Stevens in 1969 was hired as lead council by the Greenberg Commission. The Greenberg Commission was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to investigate corrupt judges on the state bench. Justice Stevens proved to be an extremely tough special prosecutor for the commission and was able to force out of office Chief Justice Klingbiel and Chief Justice Solfisbugor. As a result, he caught the eye of President Richard Nixon who appointed him to his first position and then several years later President Gerald Ford appointed him to the United States Supreme Court. Justice Stevens is the only Protestant on the Supreme Court today. His seat on the bench is going to be very hard to fill.
The seventh Supreme Court Justice is Clarence Thomas. Justice Thomas is the only current African-American Justice sitting on the bench. Mr. Thomas grew up in Pin Point Georgia and attended high school in Savannah Georgia. After attending high school there was a period in Justice Thomas' life where he thought he wanted to be a Catholic Priest. During that time, he attended Saint John Vianney's Minor in Savannah on the Isle of Hope. He also attended Conception Seminary College, a Roman Catholic Seminary in Missouri. On recommendation of a Catholic Nun, he attended and received his B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester Massachusetts. He then attended Yale Law School and has always said he was in the middle of his class. Justice Thomas is one of the six Catholics that sit on the Supreme Court today.
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