From the Supreme Court’s latest set of rulings, including presidential immunity, to other high-profile court cases like actor Alec Baldwin’s dismissed involuntary manslaughter trial, legal news often tops the day’s headlines. But even less-splashy cases are worth covering, as they can affect people’s lives and civil rights.
Laura Jarrett, NBC News’ senior legal correspondent and “TODAY” co-host, sat down with NBCU Academy to give tips on how a legal journalist can parse lawsuits, verdicts and crime.
While Jarrett clerked for two federal judges and worked at a law firm before becoming a legal journalist, she says reporters don’t need a legal background to understand the courts.
“The only essential element in covering the legal beat is to go in with an open mind,” Jarrett said. “The only essential element is to be fair to both sides.”
Watch our latest “Know Your Beat” video to learn about a legal journalist’s work and read more below.
Why do news organizations cover legal cases before a verdict or judge’s opinion?
We cover the legal system, even from the earliest days of a case, because we’re covering people who are in the seats of power. We’re supposed to be holding institutions accountable.
Often, legal cases take a long time to work their way through the system. Even if someone is charged, it might be years before they actually go to trial. It’s important to cover it from day one. You don’t know how it’s going to shake out years from now.
Where do journalists find sources of legal news and court documents?
A variety of different sources, but I have a couple of go-to places. Number one is PACER, a master database for all federal cases. Court Listener scrapes all federal court dockets to get all of the cases we could want delivered to our inbox.
Covering state courts is an entirely different matter. Every state court has its own system; it’s not centralized.
The courts and legal system are not just about pulling documents off of online databases. Fundamentally, it’s about people and having relationships. A legal journalist should get to know the players, especially lawyers that come through the courts. Often, we’ll get lawsuits or documents before they’re actually posted online. The way you do that is by having a source relationship. The lawyers or other people involved realize that these documents take a long time to digest. The coverage will be better if the journalists have it ahead of time.
What can reporters bring into a courtroom?
The best thing you can bring to cover the courts is a good notepad and a good pen. Every court will have its own rules about electronics. If it’s federal court, and you’re a journalist, sometimes you can bring a laptop. If it’s state court, typically you can bring a laptop or phone.
Generally, be aware that taking pictures or video and recording audio are banned.
When you write, you don’t need to transcribe everything that’s going on. But I do know that the best thing you could do is to listen for keywords or key phrases. There’s not going to be enough time to get everything down word for word.
The great thing about covering state courts is they are often now televised, which is unlike federal court, which is never televised.
When should journalists use terms like “allegedly” when discussing legal cases?
Any time you’re covering someone accused of a crime, you must assume that they’re innocent in the same way that the court does. So, we try to use language that doesn’t assume their guilt. We say “allegedly” if we’re talking about crimes that the prosecutor has accused them of, but they haven’t yet been convicted of.
I think sometimes the audience can be frustrated when they hear “allegedly” about something that’s just a fact, that they’re watching in front of them on TV.
My rule of thumb: If it’s something that the audience can see for themselves with their own two eyes, then I don’t need to put the word “allegedly” on that. But if it’s my characterization of a legal conclusion, then that is something that does require a little bit of couching and a little bit of sensitivity. If somebody is watching a video of a beating, and they see someone hit someone else, I don’t need to say “allegedly.” But if we’re saying that that’s “involuntary manslaughter,” that’s a legal conclusion, and I do need to say “allegedly.”
Gallery: Laura Jarrett on the Scene
Special thanks to Fallon Gallagher for the pictures.
