Supreme Makeover: Inventing a New Model of Judicial Openness on the High Court?

September 18, 2007

Although the Supreme Court has shown some signs of becoming a more media friendly institution, the justices still strongly resist the introduction of television cameras into their court. At the same time, many of the justices seem more willing than ever to grant television interviews and make media appearances off the bench. What can be made of the fact that the justices are increasingly putting themselves in the news even as they keep the media away from the Court? And how well are other media covering the Court in an era of dwindling news budgets but burgeoning law-blog activity?

On the eve of Chief Justice John Roberts’ First Amendment speech at SU, a distinguished panel of insiders gathered to debate the relationship between Court tradition, modern-day news coverage, and public image-making. This event — part of a yearlong celebration of the First Amendment to mark the opening of Newhouse III — featured an address by Slate.com’s Dahlia Lithwick, plus a panel discussion with Ben Wittes of Brookings, The Atlantic Monthly, and The Washington Post and veteran Supreme Court reporter Tony Mauro.

This event was moderated by Mark Obbie and was cosponsored by the Syracuse University College of Law and the Carnegie Legal Reporting Program at Newhouse.  “Supreme Makeover” was also a part of Syracuse Symposium, a semester-long festival focused on the issue of Justice.

EVENT PARTICIPANTS

Dahlia Lithwick
Senior Editor, Slate.com

Benjamin Wittes
Fellow and Research Director of Public Law, Brookings Institution

Tony Mauro
Supreme Court Correspondent, Legal Times, American Lawyer