Supreme Court Clerks: Not Enough Affirmative Action for Women?

From liberal New York Times reporter Linda Greenhouse, an article lamenting the fact that the number of women among Supreme Court clerks has substantially declined this year.

In reality, there is no evidence that this is anything more than random variation, but the article does contain one priceless quote from Justice Souter.

Justice Ginsburg, who will have two women among her four clerks, declined during the conversation to comment further on the clerkship numbers. Why not ask a justice who has not hired any women for the coming term, she suggested.

One who is in that position, Justice Souter, said he was disappointed to find himself without any female clerks. He explained that he had hired the top four applicants, who turned out to be men.

Souter doesn’t seem to “get it.”

A liberal who consistently votes for affirmative action preferences elsewhere in American society, he is content to merely hire the most qualified candidates to work in his office.