Underneath Their Robes

Is That a Gavel Under Your Robe, Justice Alito?

Or are you just happy to see Anna Nicole Smith?

Yes, fellow judicial and celebrity groupies, today is the day that we've all been waiting for. This morning, Anna Nicole Smith is before the United States Supreme Court. She's gracing One First Street with her presence to attend oral arguments in Marshall v. Marshall, No. 04-1544 -- her long-running battle, as a grieving widow, for a fair share of her late husband's estate.

Based on this photo of her arrival at the Court, the previously lardy Smith is looking glamorous and svelte. Three cheers for TrimSpa!

Please email eyewitness accounts of the proceedings to Article III Groupie. She will file a more detailed report after the arguments conclude. Thanks!

A3G Is Hungry -- Time for a Tatel Tot!

(Yes, carbs are evil, but occasional indulgence won't kill A3G -- or, worse still, make her fat.)

According to these comments, the final law clerk to Justice David H. Souter for October Term 2006 is Daniel Tenny (Michigan '05/Tatel), a.k.a. Daniel "the Terminator" Tenny.

Thanks to UTR's great network of tipsters for all of the info. See how much we can find out when we all gossip together!

The Third Souter Clerk for OT 2006...

is David Han (Harvard '05/Boudin). One tipster who passed along Mr. Han's name pointed out that the same section at HLS -- a group of about 75 students -- produced at least five SCOTUS clerks (with a few more strong possibilities in the pipeline).

Very interesting! A3G thanks her readers for the prompt responses to her query, as well as the additional information.

With respect to Justice Souter's October Term 2006 clerks, A3G still has one discovery request outstanding: Who is the fourth clerk, allegedly from Michigan?

Finally, A3G reiterates her call for fun facts and interesting tidbits about the eating habits of federal judges. She has been very disappointed by the tiny trickle of responses she has received thus far. Please, help her out; she can't write this blog without your assistance!

A Law Clerk Hiring Update: Justice Souter Picks His Posse

On information and belief, Justice David H. Souter has hired his law clerks for October Term 2006. Here are two of them:

1. Boris Bershteyn (Yale '04/Cabranes)

2. Bryan Leach (Yale '05/Cabranes)

Hmm... Both male Yalies, who both clerked for Judge Jose Cabranes, the highly regarded Second Circuit judge (and, more importantly, the dad of UTR's Most Delicious Diva). C'mon, Justice Souter, you're a lib -- can't you do a little better in the diversity department? Hiring clerks to a Latino judge doesn't count.

Rumor has it that the other two DHS hires are from Harvard and Michigan. Do you know who they are? Share the dish with A3G, by email!

(Update: See this post for the identity of the Harvard clerk, and this post for the identity of the Michigan clerk.)

Justice Alito: Even More Style-Impaired Than We Originally Thought

Yes, that's right; Justice Samuel Alito is getting a makeover from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Heaven help us!

The Washington Post column by Dana Milbank that accompanies the photo offers a very interesting look at Justice Alito's first day on the Court. Here are some highlights:

"In his first day on the bench, Alito laughed obligingly at Justice Antonin Scalia's joke about river discharge. He stroked his chin thoughtfully and rocked in his chair, just as the more senior justices do. The eight questions he asked -- on the finer points of the Clean Water Act and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission -- put him on course to surpass within days the total number of questions Justice Clarence Thomas has asked in 15 years."

"The new student had some awkward moments as he adjusted to his surroundings. He tried to talk at the same time as 85-year-old Justice John Paul Stevens, then quickly backed down. He continued the questioning of a government lawyer after the time for the argument had expired. And, in his haste to depart the chamber, he forgot the rules of seniority and stepped in front of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; the 72-year-old Clinton appointee was uninjured."

A3G aside: The Clean Water Act cases that were argued yesterday can be summed up in a single word: BORING! Don't be fooled by all that sexy-sounding talk from the justices about "discharges."

The best thing about being a Supreme Court clerk: the prestige.

The worst thing about being a Supreme Court clerk: the work!

(Gavel bang: Wonkette.)

Because It's Never Too Late To Join the Elect

Tomorrow's New York Times contains this interesting article, by Adam Liptak, about Justice Samuel A. Alito's hiring of 37-year-old Adam G. Ciongoli as one of his law clerks (previously blogged about here by Article III Groupie).

While we're on the subject of NYT coverage of the Elect, check out this amusing correction. A3G hates to quibble, but the correction may need correction: the "e" in "the Elect" should be capitalized. These legal geniuses didn't bust their asses in law school, suck up to all of their professors, and toil tirelessly for their feeder judges, only to be insulted with lowercase letters!

A3G would have more to say about Liptak's article, but she's on her way out the door, to a birthday party -- where she intends to consume copious amounts of alcohol (it's been a long week). If she's not too hungover tomorrow, perhaps she'll blog a little more then.

UTR Discovery Request: A Hunger for Justice

Not too long ago, Article III Groupie was looking back on the mission statement for her blog. She was pleased to see that she has delivered on almost all of her promised coverage, with one notable exception:

A Hunger for Justice: Judge Jerome Frank and his fellow legal realists thought that a case might get decided "based on what the judge had for breakfast." So -- what did the judge have for breakfast? What judges have idiosyncratic culinary tastes? Which judges are on diets -- and which judges aren't, but should be? Find out in UTR's exploration of the care and feeding of Article III judges.

Federal judicial eating habits are gossiped about with more gusto than the misadventures of Brangelina. For example, how is Justice Antonin Scalia coping with the imminent closing of his favorite pizza place, A.V. Ristorante? Is is true that Judge Edward R. Becker (3d Cir.) likes to go on late-night Chinese food binges with his clerks? And what about that story of how Judge Richard Posner (7th Cir.) used to eat grapefruit for dessert at lunch every day, until a naughty clerk got him addicted to chocolate -- accurate, or apocryphal?

Okay, folks, you know the drill. Send your amusing anecdotes and titillating tales about Article III appetites to A3G, by email. She will use them to prepare her special report, "A Hunger for Justice." Thanks in advance for your contributions!

Closing the Loop on Justice Stevens

Many of you have complained about the frequency with which Article III Groupie links to her politically-oriented sister, Wonkette. A3G understands and appreciates your concerns.  After this post, you will see a sharp drop-off in such links.

For the record, however, and only for those of you who are interested, here are the results -- the finalists, and the winning entry -- for "So What's Really Bothering Justice Stevens" (the Wonkette reader contest that A3G previously brought to your attention).

A Law Clerk Hiring Update: Alito's Experienced Hands, Breyer's Hires, and More

This is already old news; many other outlets got to the story before Article III Groupie. But for the record, and in the interest of completeness, A3G has some law clerk hiring news to share with you.

Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., has hired the following people -- all of whom previously clerked for him on the Third Circuit -- to serve as clerks for him on the Supreme Court:

-- Adam G. Ciongoli, currently a senior VP at Time Warner Inc., who previously served as a close advisor to former Attorney General John Ashcroft;

-- Hannah Smith, who previously clerked on the Court for Justice Thomas; and

-- Jay Jorgensen, who previously clerked on the Court for then-Chief Justice Rehnquist.

Adam, Hannah and Jay will join former O'Connor clerks Sasha Volokh and Ben Horwich, also recently hired by Justice Alito (as previously reported in these pages).

Yes, that's five -- one more than Alito's allotment of four clerks as an Associate Justice. What's going to happen is that Smith will serve until May, when she will be replaced by Jorgensen.

To read more about Justice Alito's latest hires, check out this article, by Charles Lane of the Washington Post, and this article, by Robert Schmidt for Bloomberg News.

In addition, Amber Taylor has profiles up for Justice Stephen G. Breyer's four clerks for October Term 2006: Steve Shackleford, Thiru Vignarajah (say that ten times fast), Tacy Flint, and Jaren Casazza. The profiles are available here. And Amber has also posted a bio of Felicia H. Ellsworth, who will be clerking for Chief Justice John Roberts in OT 2006.

Finally, here's a detailed profile of current Roberts clerk Kosta Stojilkovic. (What's the latest trend in Supreme Court clerk hiring? Hire clerks with unusual or hard-to-pronounce names!)

Justice Stevens: He's Upset About Something!

There is ample reason to question the rumor that Justice John Paul Stevens might be stepping down from the Supreme Court come June. After all, we've been hearing such a rumor for years, and it never comes to pass.

But we do know that something was bugging JPS recently. He was agitated enough about something to exclaim, "I can't put up with this shit anymore!"

Do you have a guess as to what it might have been? If so, then submit an entry to this Wonkette reader contest.