The Justices are more like the Editor of newspaper, in that his name is on it, but others do the leg work. They serve to guide, not sit at a computer and type.
>>>The Justices are more like the Editor of newspaper, in that his name is on it, but others do the leg work. They serve to guide, not sit at a computer and type.
A better analogy would be that the Justices are like TV Presenters...and the clerks are what the writers and producers to TV types...
The fact that clerks draft the opinions, after getting the gist of what the Justice intends, is what I have always assumed. I draft important papers for my boss, some of which he signs without changing a word.
But you would THINK that the arguments that are used in the decision are at least HIS!
Sure. It's not a dirty, little secret. It's not a secret of any kind. But it is the judge who tells the clerks what the outcome of the decision will be, and no responsible judge does not read and carefully edit and rewrite as necessary all of these opinions. It is a point of pride if the opinion writes as a clerk makes it into the books virtually untouched, but that just means you understood what the judge wanted and wrote it well.
Correct. This is a stupid article. The fact that Supreme Court justices do not write all their own opinions - just like Presidents don't write all their own speeches - is hardly news. It is their ideas coming out in the opinions.
Considering the gravity of their rulings and the precedence set by mere phrases in their decisions. They can sit there and type.