Willow grad to clerk for federal judge

Caleb Rutledge, WSHS '15, has been appointed a judicial law clerk to U.S. Circuit Judge Justin D. Smith.  The U.S. Court of Appeals hears appeals from the federal courts and agencies in the seven midwestern States within the Eighth Circuit.  Its decisions can be reviewed only by the U.S. Supreme Court.  In this capacity, Caleb works with U.S. Circuit Judge Duane Benton, WSHS '68.

 

Caleb has already had a distinguished career, having graduated at the top of his class at both Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, and the University of Missouri Law School in Columbia.  After passing the Bar examination, he earned a prestigious clerkship on the Missouri Court of Appeals in St. Louis and served as an assistant Attorney General in the Public Protection division.

 

Judge Benton told the Howell County News that a judicial law clerk is a critical position on the second highest court in America.  "Without a competent, personable clerk—who does in-depth research and extensive drafting—a Circuit Judge simply cannot do his job of deciding cases."

 

For his own part, Rutledge said, “Since my first clerkship, and even more so during this one, I've seen the importance of not only courts deciding cases rightly but also the need for every citizen to understand how courts do so. I hope to help in those missions, and to never keep the honor and privilege of this clerkship for myself, regardless my career's trajectory or end point."

 

Caleb is the son of Chris and Cassie Rutledge of Willow Springs, and the grandson of the late Willard and Pat Rutledge and Kenny and Bonnie Russell  of Summersville.