Alison Nathan has been nominated for a judgeship on the Southern District of New York, and I was very impressed by this letter in support of her nomination signed by almost the entire complement of law clerks who clerked on the Supreme Court when Alison was clerking for Justice Stevens. Of particular interest, I believe the letter is signed by all of the Thomas, Scalia, Rehnquist and Kennedy clerks that Term who are not presently in government service (one Thomas clerk is a judge; a Rehnquist clerk is an AUSA; and a Kennedy clerk is a state SG).
That’s very impressive support. Off the top of my head, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it. Washington is a small place, and informal channels will generally get word back to the relevant folks in the Senate without a public letter (either positively or negatively). But the fact that so many conservative former clerks publicly support Nathan’s nomination is quite impressive.