Law schools often push students to work for the federal courts, in prestigious jobs as interns or clerks.But those students can get a harsh surprise when they learn judges exercise near total control over their hours, holidays and work culture.And there's no clear way to complain or sue outside that system.A group of law students at Emory University in Atlanta is trying to change that.
They recently petitioned the U.S.Supreme Court to take up a case that challenges the internal system the judiciary uses to police itself.Unlike most other American workers, tens of thousands of people who work for the federal courts are not covered by landmark civil rights protections—and they cannot turn to an independent agency for help if they experience harassment or discrimination on the job.Sofia Bettini, a recent Emory graduate who worked on the Supreme Court petition, said it was a "no brainer" for the students to pick this issue out of several other requests for help that came their way at the university's Supreme Court Advocacy Program."You may not know as a student entering a clerkship that you're going to forgo certain workplace protections that you otherwise would never have to even consider forgoing because they just seem that fundamental," Bettini said.Many of her friends and colleagues expect to take jobs in the courts someday.
So the plight of clerks, probation officers and public defenders who work for the judicial branch felt personal."They have nowhere to turn, no independent enforcer, no neutral decision maker and there exists a very real threat that speaking up will cost them everything," Bettini said.Bettini and nine other students in the program spent weeks researching the facts and the law.They're working to support a former federal public defender, who says she faced sexual harassment on the job.Professor Paul Koster said it's the only student-led Supreme Court litigation program in the country."These students aren't getting credits for this, they're not...