Quiz Show: Take the Danny Boggs Trivia Challenge!

Yes, kids, now you can try this at home! The 2001 edition of the trivia quiz that possible SCOTUS nominee Chief Judge Danny J. Boggs (6th Cir.) administers to his clerkship applicants is available here. And this year's quiz can be downloaded by clicking here (pdf).

As A3G said before, the Boggs quizzes are pretty tough!* You can read all about the quiz, and Chief Judge Boggs's record as a feeder judge -- to Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, a show on which several of his clerks have appeared -- in this great New Yorker piece. (Jonathan Kay's article notes, by the way, that Judge Boggs does not like to use the word "trivia"; he prefers to call his quiz a "general knowledge test.")

After A3G blogged about Chief Judge Boggs, a number of people wrote in to praise him (although Judge Boyce F. Martin, Jr., was not among them).** Here are a few fun facts about the Honorable Danny Julian Boggs:

--his clerks, current and former, adore him (see, e.g., here);

--the "J" that begins his middle name, "Julian," is pronounced like an "H," in the Spanish manner (translation: "Juez Boggs es muy Latino!");

--he is "a wonderful man, and he would be in heaven if he could read and think and discuss interesting random things all day long" (sounds like a good SCOTUS fit to A3G);

--Danny Boggs's daughter, Rebecca Boggs, "went to Harvard, sojourned in England on a Rhodes Scholarship, and is married to another Rhodes Scholar, Mike Wenthe" (it seems like brilliance runs in the Boggs family);

--Chief Judge Boggs's well-dressed wife, Judy, was a Robing Room Report runner-up, in the category of "Best-Dressed Judicial Spouse"; and

--Mrs. Judy Boggs "could not be more kind or generous," doing "everything she can for his clerks as they move to Louisville -- housing advice, help finding dentists, etc."

Based on the foregoing, Judge and Mrs. Boggs sound like fabulous folks. Article 3 Groupie wishes Chief Judge Boggs the best of luck in making it to One First Street!

* In remarking upon the quiz's difficulty, A3G intended no criticism of the quiz or of Judge Boggs. As explained by one UTR correspondent, "the trivia quiz is, in my humble opinion, a way for him to find out if his prospective clerks have interests unrelated to the law, and to give him something to chat about at the interview."

** During the pendency of the Grutter case in the Sixth Circuit, Chief Judge Boggs and another SCOTUS short-lister, Judge Alice M. Batchelder, traded bench-slaps with Judge Martin and other Sixth Circuit liberals. If either Chief Judge Boggs or Judge Batchelder is nominated to the Court, their involvement in Grutter is certain to come under close scrutiny from the Senate Democrats.

The Grutter case was decided by the Supreme Court over two years ago, but the ill will the case generated in the Sixth Circuit lives on. According to one UTR source, "To date, Chief Judge Boggs and Judge Batchelder are not on speaking terms with Judge Martin." And, according to rumor, at one point in time -- although no longer true today, A3G is told -- "Judge Martin's clerks [were] instructed not to talk to Judge Batchelder's and Chief Judge Boggs's clerks." Ouch!

(Photo credit: Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE), whose website also has a detailed bio of Chief Judge Boggs.)

Comments

[Bob Jenkins]

I guess the judge isn't so smart after all, given that his dumb little quiz has at least one spelling error. I wouldn't want to work for someone who doesn't know how to use a spell checker.

[Regisgroupie]

I am a former Boggs clerk and I can attest that he takes disagreement quite well. I took the quiz and walked into my interview with a question. I had never met Boggs, but I started the interview by noting that he had mistranslated the famous Greek line about the death of the Spartans at Thermopylae. His quiz said "They died in obedience to their commands" when it is really "They died in obedience to their laws" - a distinction with a huge difference. Judge Boggs, whose dictum is "why argue when you can look it up", looked it up, found I was right, and we went on with the interview. Obviously, I got the job, and I add my enthusiastic voice as another Boggs clerk who adores him. In fact, he performed my wedding ceremony!

[Tom]

Darn, I'm only sure on 62 of the questions on the current quiz (counting the little mini-questions separately). Silly classics enthusiasts.

In defense of Judge Boggs and the quiz:
1) It's hardly "arrogant" to say "Here are some things I know about; think about them for a while, and we can discuss them." I think the Judge would be quite amused if someone responded by asking their own hard questions about areas they knew a lot about. And, if he had time, I bet he would think about the answers and, if didn't know them already, look them up. My sense is that he gives the quiz because he's genuinely interested in talking about it.
2) The judge certainly doesn't expect anyone to get all the answers right. Or half. Or a quarter. I imagine I got about 20% right, and he thought that was pretty good.
3) It's not like he takes the top four scoring applicants and hires them.

[nyclaw]

That quiz is ridiculous. Does he actually think it demonstrates someone's "interests" as he states in the intro to it? If that's what he's looking for, then simply ask what candidates' interests are -- in a way that doesn't make them feel dumb for not being able to answer silly questions. Second, these answers are irrelevant to a person's capability or skill vis a vis a clerkship position. The ability or inability to answer does not say anything about your analytical skills or -- here's a thought -- your knowledge of the law. This quiz makes him look like an arrogant asshole. The implied suggestion is that HE knows the answers, and you don't. I wouldn't want to work for someone who's interested in sending that message.

Then again, this arbitrary quiz fits right into the random and arbitrary nature of the clerkship hiring process.

[A Former Prospect]

The questions have changed a great deal since I took one of the first versions back in 1993. But it still has the same Soviet-Russian/German/Greek cultural emphasis. I was a Classics major in college and knew both Russian and German pretty well after having lived in both Germany and the Soviet Union. I am also a failed mathematician. So the quiz was right down the middle of my various plates.

First, he was incredibly kind and came to me for the interview. Second, the interview process worked: after we'd talked at quite some length--or rather, after he'd talked at quite some length--he didn't want me, and I didn't want him. (It is an interesting question that I will never have to answer whether I'd have turned an offer down.) He was just back from some judicial junket to Russia and thought he knew everything about the place. He does not suffer disagreement well. Not well at all, actually.

So the Sixth Circuit, I say, is fine place for him to stay.

[Jacob]

The answer to #2 is "wrong" as well. The question is asking about roman deities so the answer should be Venus and not Aphrodite.

[Milbarge]

I'm predicting it won't be Boggs, not only because the Grutter issue would get nasty, but also because Bush doesn't want to replay his struggles getting someone appointed to the Sixth Circuit as a replacement for Boggs!

[Dylan]

It appears correct to me: 1/512 = (1/2)^9.

The first flip is irrelevant, the next nine need merely match it. It would only be the incorrect answer if the question called specifically for all heads or tails.

[Jason]

Amusingly enough, the answer given for #10 of the 2001 quiz at the New Yorker is incorrect. Hopefully it wasn't Boggs who provided these answers.

[stealthlawprof]

Yeow! I hope he grades that on a curve! It could lead to some interesting conversations, but it is also pretty humbling.