Federal Law Clerks Break Their Silence To Anonymously Comment On War In Gaza
In a rare moment, federal law clerks risk their jobs to speak out on the conflict in the Middle East.
Earlier this week, a group of 25 federal law clerks issued a public statement decrying the restrictions put in place by the judiciary that have prevented them from speaking out on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas that’s playing out in Gaza. In that letter, the clerks speak of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, calling out the U.S. government’s reported “complicity in that genocide.” A statement like this is a rare occurrence, in that clerks are bound by ethics rules that prevent them from taking public stances on “political” issues.
Reuters has additional details from their statement:
The statement was published by Balls & Strikes, a court news and commentary site sponsored by Demand Justice, a progressive legal advocacy organization. It was signed anonymously by the clerks, who said they have been forced to be “passive observers of Israel’s assault on Gaza” or face being fired if they engaged publicly in political activity.
“Although the rules of the judiciary prevent us from publicly advocating at this time, we write this letter as a small gesture of our love and solidarity,” the statement reads.
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Jay Willis, the editor-in-chief of Balls & Strikes, has confirmed the identities of the clerks, and published their statement anonymously to protect their jobs.
Why are the clerks making this statement now? It seems they were inspired by none other than the federal judges who enacted a hiring ban against Columbia undergraduate and law students following the lengthy anti-war protests and encampments that took place at the elite school. On top of that, the clerks reference a trip that 14 judges took to Israel to “bear[] witness to atrocities” as they met with government officials and soldiers. To that end, here’s another excerpt from the clerks’ statement:
“In that spirit, we, too, would like to bear witness: to the ongoing genocide in Gaza; to our government’s complicity in that genocide; and to the bravery of those resisting state-sanctioned violence to call for a free Palestine — from campus solidarity encampments to the Gaza Strip,” the clerks wrote.
As noted in their statement, the clerks had previously been warned by their judges that engaging in protest activity or making an comments related to the war as strictly off limits. “Some of us were even advised against discussing the conflict in our family group chats,” the statement says, “over concern that our words could be perceived as representing the opinion of the court for which we work.”
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Amid continuous forays into controversial matters of public importance by federal judges, will more law clerks be enticed to cautiously step forward to comment on the war — or any other matter of ongoing concern — now that 25 of their colleagues have already dared to take the leap? Only time will tell, but for the moment, let’s hope that these clerks’ anonymity is preserved.
Statement By Federal Law Clerks Regarding the War In Gaza [Balls & Strikes]
US law clerks in rare anonymous statement decry ‘genocide’ in Gaza [Reuters]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.
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