Lyle Denniston (born March 16, 1931) is an American 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 Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

since 1958. He wrote for

SCOTUSblog ''SCOTUSblog'' is a law blog written by lawyers, legal scholars, and law students about the Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes abbreviation, abbreviated "SCOTUS"). Formerly sponsored by Bloomberg Law and now owned by ''The Dispatch'' ...

, 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) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

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 university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

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 Pennsyl ...

, and

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

Biography

Lyle Denniston was born in Nebraska City, Nebraska. He graduated from the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...

, and later earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate 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 prac ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

from

. While knowledgeable in legal affairs, Denniston is not a lawyer, though he taught at the

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

for eight years. As a journalist he started covering the Supreme Court for the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' in 1958 during the Warren Court era, and later wrote for the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', '' The Baltimore Sun'', '' The American Lawyer'', and the '' Washington Star''. He joined

in February 2004, and retired in June 2016–58 years after he first started covering the Supreme Court. 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 enjoys the singular distinction of being the only person to have earned a plaque in the Supreme Court press room.

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, lette ...

* 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 American bloggers American legal scholars American legal writers American male bloggers American male journalists 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