Isra Bhatty ’12 Selected as 2014–2015 Supreme Court Fellow

Isra J. Bhatty, a law clerk for Judge David S. Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, has been selected as the 2014–2015 Supreme Court Fellow assigned to the United States Sentencing Commission.

The Supreme Court Fellows Program was created in 1973 by the late Chief Justice Warren E. Burger to provide promising individuals with a first-hand understanding of the federal government, in particular, the judicial branch. In the words of Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., the program offers “a unique opportunity for exceptional individuals to contribute to the administration of justice at the national level.”

Each year fellows work with top officials in the judicial branch of government. With assignments at the Supreme Court, the Federal Judicial Center, the Administrative Office of the
U. S. Courts, and the U. S. Sentencing Commission, fellows have been involved in various projects examining the federal judicial process and seeking, proposing, and implementing solutions to problems in the administration of justice.

As the fellow at the U. S. Sentencing Commission, Bhatty will conduct legal research concerning sentencing guideline issues and legislative directives pending before the commission.
Her fellowship begins in the fall.

Before clerking for Judge Tatel, Bhatty clerked for Judge Thomas F. Hogan of the U.S.
District Court for the District of Columbia, served as a summer associate at several law firms, and was a research fellow at Yale Law School.

Bhatty earned a B.A., with honors, in economics and near eastern languages and civilizations from the University of Chicago in 2006, a J.D. from Yale Law School in 2012, and a M.Sc. in evidence-based social intervention, with distinction, in 2009 from the University of Oxford, which she attended as a Rhodes Scholar. Bhatty earned a Ph.D. in social intervention from the University of Oxford in 2013, where her dissertation analyzed the effectiveness and constitutionality of faith-based reentry programs.

The Supreme Court Fellows are selected by a commission composed of nine members selected by the Chief Justice of the United States.