Carls gain insider perspective on judicial practice with internship hosted by Bruce Manning ’96

Last summer, the Honorable Judge Bruce Manning ’96 hosted five interns from Carleton to shadow him and his work in the Hennepin County juvenile courthouse. These students — Amelia Asfaw ’25, Jonathan Birgen ’26, Meredith Caldwell ’25, Norman Colindrez ’25, and Annanya Sinha ’25 — gained first-hand experience in legal proceedings and court professionalism. 

Caldwell was enthusiastic to gain the unique perspective of a judge. 

“I thought it was just the most incredible opportunity to be able to work with a judge,” she said. “I had already experienced the law from the other side of the podium after an externship with an attorney, but understanding the thought process behind each decision — and not just the three or four cases the attorney was working on, but hundreds of cases — seemed fascinating.”

Daily life

Manning’s specific focus on the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) intrigued Colindrez, as he’s interested in judicial hearings aimed at healing the deep wound caused by colonizers against Native Americans. Despite this specific focus, though, the day always held something new for each intern. 

The daily tasks “fluctuated a lot,” said Sinha. Manning kept his interns on their toes with hearings, guests, lunch meetings, and question-and-answer sessions at the end of the day. 

“Some days we were observing expungements, or custody hearings, and other days we attended jury trials, or housing court,” said Caldwell. “There was something that surprised me every day.” 

Caldwell appreciated the surprises as moments to learn and grow. The interns were not confined to Manning’s courtroom, instead exploring all that Hennepin Courthouse had to offer.

“We observed a murder trial that lasted for one or two weeks, seeing how the juries were playing a role,” said Colindrez. “Then we got a really good view of how legal documents are made and how they are very concise.” By shadowing a judge, the interns were able to gain an insider’s perspective. 

It was not all work, though! The group also bonded during and after work hours.

“Having a larger group of interns my age to collaborate with was really fun,” Caldwell said. “We went to trivia, politely argued about cases, and got lunch once in a while… There’s a lot of discussion that happened in our little shared office.”

“It’s a really good community, with very respectful, very fun people,” Colindrez added. “It felt very inclusive.” He reflected that the inclusivity ranged beyond just race and gender, also including perspectives, life backgrounds, and majors, which he found very helpful when developing opinions after a difficult case.

Lessons learned

“Learning how to accept ambiguity and incompleteness has been useful,” said Caldwell. “Sometimes cases are going to have gaps, or checklists aren’t going to fit cases the way they’re meant to. It’s frustrating! It was hard for me to move past the concept of ‘reasonable doubt’ in unanimous juries, or to reason through a conclusion when I still had conflicting opinions on how it ‘should’ end. Manning really pushes us to reach a conclusion despite these issues, because that’s what he has to do. It’s something that bothers me endlessly and something I greatly appreciate learning.” 

“It’s really rewarding and exciting to see the smiles on the kids’ faces, knowing that they are going to be in a better place,” Colindrez added. “They’ll be able to heal. For me, what gets me excited is also the attorneys. You just see these people advocate for the kids. It’s very nice to see that there are people that are actually willing to do that, because it’s not an easy job.”

Internship host

Manning has consistently hosted interns over the years in an effort to “pay it forward” to other Carls, acknowledging that he has been the “beneficiary of a lot of good experiences and generous mentors” in his life and hopes to fill that role for others now. 

“Just as I was helped by mentors, I want to do that work, too,” said Manning — and his interns had only nice things to say about him, emphasizing his willingness to make time after a long day to answer questions and provide advice.

“Judge Manning is just an incredible internship supervisor,” said Caldwell. “I was really impressed by how invested he was in making sure we were able to get the most out of our internship.”

Who should apply next year?

“People who like to be pushed on their perspectives would be a good fit for this internship,” Caldwell said, “and anyone who cares deeply about other people who have been systematically marginalized by our legal system. You don’t need to be pre-law or a mock trial participant, just someone who’s willing to listen and learn.” 

This was a value often expressed by Manning as well, as he encouraged his interns to consider ways besides becoming a lawyer that they could achieve their goals and help their community.