Some of what Liptak identifies as increased hiring of Supreme Court law clerks from Republican circuit judges simply reflects the increased number of law clerks from Republican circuit judges because there are today more Republican circuit court judges.

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Only the justices, their law clerks and a handful of court officials know how this will end.

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These court clerks would be on the payroll of a law firm and their allegiances to those firms could create ethical dilemmas, or the appearance of ethical dilemmas.

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