A commentary published on SCOTUSblog and highlighted by Reason calls for breaking what it describes as the Supreme Court law clerk cartel. The piece, the eighth and final in a series on how the Court can do better, argues that the annual hiring of four clerks per justice has become a closed system that rewards a narrow set of credentials.
The essay specifically criticizes the practice of hiring young lawyers with sterling academic and professional backgrounds who have already secured two or three prior clerkships. It suggests this approach limits the pool of candidates and the range of experience brought into the Court.
Because Reason is pointing to the same SCOTUSblog essay, the two sources agree entirely; there is no difference between them. The commentary's core claim is that the Court should reconsider this hiring pattern as part of a broader effort to improve its operations.