NOTES FROM THE FIELD: KARLA ROSAS '20

Karla Rosas '20 interned at the United States Supreme Court in the Office of the Clerk during the 2018 fall term. The following is an excerpt from her internship report.

This fall, I interned at the United States Supreme Court in the Office of the Clerk. The United States Supreme Court processes about 10,000 petitions per year, yet only one percent of these petitions are granted and heard before the nine Justices.

During my time in the Office of the Clerk, I helped pro se petitioners with their petitioning process and prepared packets with instructions on how to file a petition with the Court. The packets were especially instrumental to pro se people, as most lacked the legal skill to file a case with the Supreme Court. More specifically, I was also tasked with filing and maintaining documents directed to the Office of the Clerk and circulated pending cases and documents to the Justices’ chambers. On court dates, I worked at the Supreme Court Bar Desk, where I processed Supreme Court bar members so that they could gain access to the oral argument scheduled for the day. When a case was particularly interesting to me, I would sit in the employee section and observe the oral argument. In particular, watching the staff, law clerks and the Justices react to the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings was telling of how the Court values its privacy. Despite the unfortunate circumstances, I had a front row to history and saw first-hand how people who have worked in the Court for decades reacted to the confirmation process from an inside perspective.

Above all, this internship has solidified my post-graduation plans to go to law school. In fact, witnessing the Justices grapple with hypothetical situations and question the cases presented before them has especially sparked my interest in constitutional law. I am truly thankful to the Rockefeller Center for the opportunity to intern at the United States Supreme Court in the Office of the Clerk.

The Rockefeller Internships Program has funding for Dartmouth undergraduate students to help defray the cost of living expenses associated with a full-time, unpaid, leave-term internships in the fields of public policy, public affairs, and social entrepreneurship.