SCOTUS clerks crafting opinions this autumn will be overwhelmingly white and male

• Of the 38 Supreme Court clerks for the October 2022 term, 25 are men and 13 are women.
• It appears that two clerks are Black, two are Hispanic, and two are Asian.

The latest Supreme Court clerk lineup is less diverse than previous cohorts in terms of gender, race, and ethnicity — and vastly lags the country as a whole, according to an official list of clerks provided by the Court's Public Information Office to law newsletter Original Jurisdiction.

There are 38 clerks in the class, nearly 70% are men (25), while women make up a little over 30% (13). Last year's clerk class was almost evenly split, an improvement from the 2019 and 2020 clerk classes, which were both nearly 60% male. The new class, which will closely assist the nation's powerful jurists, is the least gender balanced one since 2017.

The new clerks officially start in October. Each of the nine active justices will get four clerks, while retired Justices Anthony Kennedy and Stephen Breyer will get one each, who will assist them with various duties but work in the chambers of an active justice.

David Lat at Original Jurisdiction reported that the new class is "a throwback to the first 12 years of the Roberts Court (2005-2017), a period in which only a third of clerks were women." This development stands in contrast to the evolving gender makeup of law schools, where female students are now a majority, according to the American Bar Association's 2021 Profile of the Legal Profession.

The new clerk class also appears to lack in diversity in terms of race or ethnicity. While the Supreme Court does not release information about the race or ethnicity of clerks, Lat's research indicates that two clerks are Black, two are Hispanic, and two are Asian.

As their terms progress, these clerks will have the opportunity to assist justices with drafting opinions for cases, which include:

• Merrill v. Milligan, in which the plaintiffs, a group of Alabama voters and organizations, alleged the congressional map enacted in November 2021 unfairly distributed Black voters.
• Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard, in which Students for Fair Admissions Inc. challenged the admissions programs of Harvard College and the University of North Carolina, arguing that the universities' use of race as a factor in admissions violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by penalizing Asian American applicants.
• Brackeen v. Haaland, concerning the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 governing the removal of out-of-home placement of American Indian children.

A degree from a prestigious law school also appears to give prospective clerks an advantage in scoring one of the most competitive and coveted judicial clerkship in the nation. Almost one-third (12) of all clerks are from Yale Law, and Harvard and Stanford law graduates follow closely behind, each minting eight and seven.

The Supreme Court's public information office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.