Posted by David Bernstein:
Most Demanding Job in the Land?:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_08_02-2009_08_08.shtml#1249645755
[1]N.Y. Times:
With the Senate�s approval of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to
the Supreme Court on Thursday, the new justice will soon take on
one of the most demanding jobs in the land.
Let's see. Each Justice has to write eight or nine opinions a year,
plus several dissents or concurrences, with the assistance of four law
clerks. While doing so, they manage to write books, lecture, and take
the Summer off. Justice Thomas travels the country in his Winnebago.
Other Justices have cushy lecturing jobs in Europe. Some elderly
Justices almost literally have to be carried out of the Court when
they die or become mentally incompetent, because the job is so
"demanding." It's hard to see how an 89 year old Justice Stevens could
keep up if he had the "one of the most demanding jobs in the land."
Powerful? Yes. Intellectually challenging? Yes. Stressful? It would
stress me out to have to decide, e.g., whether abortion would be
legal, but the Justices seem to cope a lot better than I would, and
they do have a lifetime job and no boss, which eliminates two major
sources of stress for many people. Among the most demanding in the
land? Hardly. My impression is that many lower court federal judges
work much harder year-round than the average Supreme Court Justice.
References
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/us/politics/07scotus.html?_r=1&hp
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