''SCOTUSblog'' is a law
blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
written by
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
s,
law professors, and law students about the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
(sometimes
abbreviated
An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...
"SCOTUS"). Formerly sponsored by
Bloomberg Law
Bloomberg Law is a subscription-based service that uses data analytics and artificial intelligence for online legal research. The service, which Bloomberg L.P. introduced in 2009, provides legal content, proprietary company information and news ...
, the site tracks cases before the Court from the
certiorari
In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...
stage through the
merits stage. The site
live blog
A liveblog is blog posting intended to provide coverage of an ongoing event in rolling text, similar to live television or live radio. Liveblogging has increased in usage by news organizations and blogging establishments since the mid-2000s, when ...
s as the Court announces opinions and grants cases, and sometimes has information on the Court's actions published before either the Court or any other news source does. SCOTUSblog frequently hosts symposiums with leading experts on the cases before the Court. The blog comprehensively covers all of the cases argued before the Court and maintains an archive of the briefing and other documents in each case.
History and growth
The blog's first post was published on October 1, 2002. The blog began as a means of promoting the law firm then known as Goldstein & Howe, P.C. The blog moved to its current address on February 7, 2005. In the same year, it was featured by ''
BusinessWeek
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
'' in their weekly blog recommendation. A companion
wiki
A wiki ( ) is an online hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience, using a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages for the subjects or scope of the project, and could be either open to the pu ...
was added in 2007, but its features were subsequently integrated into the blog itself.
In June 2007 the site announced that it was about to experience its single largest daily readership at 100,000 page views per day. The increase in traffic coincided with the Supreme Court's reversal of course on June 29, 2007, when it unexpectedly announced it would hear the
Guantanamo Bay detainees’ challenges to the
Military Commissions Act of 2006
The Military Commissions Act of 2006, also known as HR-6166, was an Act of Congress signed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. The Act's stated purpose was "to authorize trial by military commission for violations of the law of ...
. A 2008 article in the ''
New York Law School
New York Law School (NYLS) is a private law school in Tribeca, New York City. NYLS has a full-time day program and a part-time evening program. NYLS's faculty includes 54 full-time and 59 adjunct professors. Notable faculty members include E ...
Law Review'' estimated that "before the end of the afternoon, ''SCOTUSblog'' alone had posted more information about the case than most newspapers provided even the next day."
After
Lyle Denniston
Lyle Denniston (born March 16, 1931) is an American legal journalist, professor, and author, who has reported on the Supreme Court of the United States since 1958. He wrote for SCOTUSblog, an online blog featuring news and analysis of the Suprem ...
stepped down as the blog's reporter at the Court in 2016, Amy Howe was named the blog's reporter.
Reception
A 2008 article in the ''
New York Law School
New York Law School (NYLS) is a private law school in Tribeca, New York City. NYLS has a full-time day program and a part-time evening program. NYLS's faculty includes 54 full-time and 59 adjunct professors. Notable faculty members include E ...
Law Review'' gave ''SCOTUSblog'' as an example of a successful law blog, together with
Balkinization and the
Volokh Conspiracy
The Volokh Conspiracy ( ) is a blog co-founded in 2002 by law professor Eugene Volokh, covering legal and political issues from an ideological orientation it describes as "generally Libertarianism in the United States, libertarian, Conservatism i ...
, and noted that "with growing numbers of lawyers and legal scholars commenting on breaking legal issues, the blogosphere provides more sophisticated, in-depth analysis of the law than is possible even in a long-form magazine article."
[ Edward Adams, editor and publisher of the ]American Bar Association
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...
's ''ABA Journal
The ''ABA Journal'' (since 1984, formerly ''American Bar Association Journal'', 1915–1983, evolved from '' Annual Bulletin'', 1908–1914) is a monthly legal trade magazine and the flagship publication of the American Bar Association. It is no ...
'', said that ''SCOTUSblog'' is one of the best law blogs. "It's run by lawyers and they cover the Supreme Court more intensively than any news organization does, and it does a better job, too."
The site is also known for its comprehensive coverage of the nomination and confirmation process for new justices. In 2009 Paul Krugman
Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American economist, who is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and a columnist for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, Krugman was th ...
of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote of the site's coverage of the Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...
nomination, "Without SCOTUSlog
Log most often refers to:
* Trunk (botany), the stem and main wooden axis of a tree, called logs when cut
** Logging, cutting down trees for logs
** Firewood, logs used for fuel
** Lumber or timber, converted from wood logs
* Logarithm, in mathe ...
the whole debate might have been about wise Latina women and Newt /nowiki>">ingrich/nowiki>’s Tweets from Auschwitz. Instead, we have some real information getting into the picture."
During the week of the Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...
hearings at the Supreme Court in March 2012, the site had one million hits owing to its extensive coverage of the arguments in both legalese
Legal writing involves the analysis of fact patterns and presentation of arguments in documents such as legal memoranda and briefs. One form of legal writing involves drafting a balanced analysis of a legal problem or issue. Another form of legal ...
and "In Plain English
Plain English (or layman's terms) are groups of words that are to be clear and easy to know. It usually avoids the use of rare words and uncommon euphemisms to explain the subject. Plain English wording is intended to be suitable for almost anyone, ...
". ''Technorati
Technorati was a search engine and a publisher advertising platform that served as an advertising solution for the thousands of websites in its network. Technorati launched its ad network in 2008, and at one time was one of the largest ad network ...
'' rated the site as one of the 100 most influential blogs. The site is consistently on ''Technorati'' list of top politics blogs.
Awards
In 2010, ''SCOTUSblog'' was the recipient of the ABA's Silver Gavel award
The Silver Gavel Award (also known as the ABA Silver Gavel Awards for Media and The Arts) is an annual award the American Bar Association gives to honor outstanding work by those who help improve comprehension of jurisprudence in the United State ...
. It is the only blog to receive the award. In 2013, ''SCOTUSblog'' received the Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
for excellence in electronic media. It is the first blog to ever receive the Peabody. It also won the 2012 Society of Professional Journalists
The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...
(Sigma Delta Chi) prize for deadline reporting by an independent (non-affiliated) source for its coverage of the announcement of the Supreme Court's Affordable Care Act decision.
New media
SCOTUSblog has a Tiktok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version ...
account with over 240K followers. Katie Barlow posts regular updates there on court news and facts.
References
External links
* {{official website, http://www.SCOTUSblog.com
American political blogs
Supreme Court of the United States
American legal websites
Internet properties established in 2002
2002 establishments in the United States
Peabody Award winners