Waseem G. Iqbal, a special agent in the San Francisco office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), has been selected as the 2012-2013 Supreme Court Fellow assigned to the U.S. 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, Iqbal will conduct legal research concerning sentencing guideline issues and legislative directives pending before the commission.  His fellowship begins in the fall.

Between 2007 and early 2012, Iqbal was employed as a U.S. probation officer in the Northern District of California. As a U.S. probation officer, Iqbal initially conducted presentence investigations and later managed federal offenders as an electronic monitoring specialist. In 2002, Iqbal was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the United States Air Force where he served as a special agent at Travis Air Force Base, and later in Iraq and Pakistan. He later joined the California Air National Guard as an active reserve captain, and was deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan, where he served as an executive officer at NATO Headquarters (2009-2010).

Iqbal earned a B.S. in administration of justice, a minor in aerospace studies (ROTC), and an M.P.A. from San Jose State University, respectively, in 2002 and 2008.

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