''Writ'' is a legal commentary website on the topic of the law of the United States hosted by

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. The website is no longer adding content, having published its last entry in August 2011. Before then, Writ published at least one new column by one of its regular columnists every business day, and frequently posted a second column by a guest columnist. The regular columnists were all notable attorneys. Almost all contributors are law professors; some are former law clerks from the

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; some are past or present federal prosecutors; one is a former Counsel to the President; one is a novelist, and one is the current director of the Terrorism and Counterterrorism Program of

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

. The guest columnists also tend to be law professors or seasoned attorneys. When the website was still producing new content, columnists commented both on notable ongoing court cases and recent court decisions, as well as on current events. Writ also published occasional book reviews, on books of both legal and more general interest; the book reviewers were likewise academically inclined attorneys. Writ is free, and maintains all of its material from its inception in a free archive. Although Writ is known mainly among legal circles, its columnists tend to be prolific authors who reach a broad audience. Many have published books as well as frequent articles and op-eds in newspapers and magazines such as ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'', '' U.S. News & World Report'', ''

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'', ''

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'', and ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

''. One Writ columnist, Marci Hamilton, was the first guest on ''

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'' in its new studio in 2005; columnist Edward Lazarus also appeared on ''The Daily Show'' in 2006. Writ is available online and, after an extended period of inactivity, actively publishes new articles as of 2022.

Writ's regular columnists

Akhil Amar Akhil Reed Amar (born September 6, 1958) is an American legal scholar known for his expertise in constitutional law and criminal procedure. He holds the position of Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, and is an ad ...

Vikram Amar Vikram David Amar (born 1963) is an American legal scholar focusing on constitutional law, federal courts, and civil and criminal procedure. In August 2015, he became dean of the University of Illinois College of Law and the Iwan Foundation Pro ...

* Bart Aronson * Sherry Colb *

John Dean John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) is an American former attorney who served as White House Counsel for U.S. President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. Dean is known for his role in the cover-up of the Watergate scandal ...

Michael C. Dorf Michael C. Dorf is an American law professor and a scholar of U.S. constitutional law. He is the Robert S. Stevens Professor of Law at Cornell Law School. In addition to constitutional law, Professor Dorf has taught courses in civil procedure a ...

Joanna Grossman Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from he, יוֹחָנָה, translit=Yôḥānāh, lit=God is gracious. Variants in English include Joan, Joann, Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in English are Jan, Jane, Janet, Janice, ...

Marci Hamilton Marci Ann Hamilton (born July 22, 1957) is the chief executive officer and academic director at Child USA, an interdisciplinary think tank to prevent child abuse and neglect. She is also a scholar of constitutional law and a Fox Family Pavilion D ...

Julie Hilden Julie Cope Hilden (April 19, 1968 - March 17, 2018) was an American novelist and lawyer. Biography Hilden grew up in Hawaii and New Jersey. She graduated with a B.A. in philosophy from Harvard College, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and an M.F.A. ...

Edward Lazarus Edward Lazarus (born September 9, 1959) is a lawyer and writer. He currently serves as General Counsel for Sonos. From 2013 to 2018, Lazarus was general counsel and chief strategy officer for the Tribune Corporation, following its exit from bankr ...

Joanne Mariner Joanne may refer to: Music * ''Joanne'' (album), 2016 album by Lady Gaga ** "Joanne" (Lady Gaga song), a 2016 song from the album ''Joanne'' * "Joanne" (Michael Nesmith song), a 1970 song from the album ''Magnetic South'' * "Joanne", a song by C ...

Anita Ramasastry Anita Ramasastry is the D. Wayne & Anne Gittinger Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle and a director of the Shidler Center for Law, Commerce & Technology. She is also a regular columnist for the online legal ...

Anthony Sebok Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton ...

Books by Writ columnists

*Akhil Reed Amar. ''America's Constitution: A Biography.'' *Akhil Reed Amar. ''The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction'' *Sherry Colb. ''When Sex Counts: Making Babies and Making Law.'' *John Dean. ''Conservatives Without Conscience.'' *John Dean. '' Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush.'' *John Dean. ''Warren G. Harding.'' *John Dean. ''The Rehnquist Choice: The Untold Story of the Nixon Appointment That Redefined the Supreme Court.'' *John Dean. ''Blind Ambition.'' *Michael C. Dorf. ''Constitutional Law Stories.'' *Michael C. Dorf. ''On Reading the Constitution.'' *Marci Hamilton. ''God vs. the Gavel : Religion and the Rule of Law.'' *Julie Hilden. ''Three.'' *Julie Hilden. ''The Bad Daughter : Betrayal and Confession.'' *Edward Lazarus. ''Closed Chambers : The Rise, Fall, and Future of the Modern Supreme Court.'' *Edward Lazarus. ''Black Hills, White Justice: The Sioux Nation Versus the United States, 1775 to the Present.'' *Joanne Mariner. ''No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Prisons.'' *Anthony Sebok et al. ''Legal Positivism in American Jurisprudence.''

References

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