January 30, 2019
January 2019: Saraswati Singh
Saraswati Singh (she/her)
Co-President, ACS Minneapolis-St. Paul Lawyer Chapter
The Constitution is for all of us. After all, it begins with “We the People.” I am a proud member of the American Constitution Society, working to make sure the Constitution continues to protect our rights and helps us become “a more perfect Union.”
My name is Saraswati Singh and I am a prosecutor in Minnesota. I was born in Brooklyn, moved to Queens, and went to high school in the Bronx. While at Colgate University, I “studied abroad” in Washington, D.C., where I interned for Senator Hillary Clinton and met Justice Antonin Scalia in my constitutional law class. After college, I worked for then-senator Joe Biden—going to Iowa for his presidential campaign to help people exercise their constitutional right to vote.
I first heard of the American Constitution Society (ACS) in law school. It was the summer of my 1L year. I was working on Elena Kagan’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Senator Ted Kaufman, who was on the Judiciary Committee. The head of the legal team suggested I attend an ACS event. When I arrived, I was equally surprised as I was impressed. There were former U.S. Supreme Court law clerks of all genders and backgrounds explaining how cases have and would impact someone like me. Talking about issues that mattered to women, people of color, the poor, the middle class, and the voiceless. I came back to the office armed with questions and topics that Senator Kaufman may want to consider asking Elena Kagan.
That day, I found my place in the legal world. A place where a progressive law student like me could discuss how the Constitution could become a vehicle to help people with their everyday lives instead of just talking about pie in the sky theories. ACS provided me an opportunity to learn from the best—from people across the ideological spectrum—on issues that often have no easy answers. ACS has informed and provided me opportunities that I would not have known about otherwise, especially because I did not have any other lawyers in my family.
Because of ACS, I had a chance to work with a federal judge, getting time in the courtroom and helping him assist the Kosovo government with amending their constitution. Because of ACS, I was able to connect with and was recruited by another ACS member—a progressive District Attorney—who values making changes that will rebuild trust in our justice system. Because of ACS, I was able to learn what skills I needed to achieve my goals and was provided with a blueprint to develop that expertise.