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 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 tribunals in the United States, federal court cases, and over Stat ...

since 1958. He wrote for

SCOTUSblog ''SCOTUSblog'' is a law blog written by lawyers, law professors, and law students about the Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes abbreviated "SCOTUS"). Formerly sponsored by Bloomberg Law, the site tracks cases before the Court from th ...

, an online blog featuring news and analysis of the Supreme Court, until June 2016, after previously having written for multiple national newspapers and legal periodicals. His commentary is also featured on the

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

show ''Here and Now''. In addition, he has contributed to numerous books and journals, and is the author of "The Reporter and the Law: Techniques for Covering the Courts." Denniston has taught classes on law, journalism, and American constitutional history at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was cha ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

, and

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

. Because of his long-standing coverage of the Court, he has been referred to as the "Dean Emeritus of the Supreme Court Press Corps," and he enjoys the singular distinction of being the only person to have earned a plaque in the Supreme Court press room.

Biography

Lyle Denniston was born in

Nebraska City, Nebraska Nebraska City is a city in Nebraska, and the county seat of, Otoe County, Nebraska, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,289. The Nebraska State Legislature has credited Nebraska City as being the oldest incorporated ...

. He graduated from

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Univers ...

, and later earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

from

. While deeply knowledgeable about the law, Denniston is not a lawyer, though he taught at Georgetown University's law school for 8 years. As a journalist he started covering the Supreme Court for the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' in 1958 during the

Warren Court The Warren Court was the period in the history of the Supreme Court of the United States during which Earl Warren served as Chief Justice. Warren replaced the deceased Fred M. Vinson as Chief Justice in 1953, and Warren remained in office until ...

era, and later wrote for the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Gl ...

'', ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...

'', ''

The American Lawyer ''The American Lawyer'' is a monthly legal magazine and website published by ALM Media. The periodical and its parent company, ALM (then American Lawyer Media), were founded in 1979 by Steven Brill.Washington Star ''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the Washington ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday Star ...

''. He joined

in February 2004, and retired in June 2016, 58 years after he first started covering the Supreme Court.

Awards

* American Judicature Society's Toni House Journalism Award * Member of the Hall of Fame of the

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 ...

* Outstanding News-Editorial Alumnus Award, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

References

External links

scotusblog.comlyldenlawnews.com
*
C-SPAN ''Q&A'' interview with Denniston, March 18, 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denniston, Lyle 1931 births 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American journalists American University faculty and staff American bloggers American legal scholars American legal writers American male bloggers American male journalists Georgetown College (Georgetown University) alumni Georgetown University Law Center faculty Johns Hopkins University faculty Journalists from Nebraska Living people Pennsylvania State University faculty People from Nebraska City, Nebraska Supreme Court of the United States people University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni