How to Follow Today's Supreme Court Spectacle
It's the biggest event in politics this summer and we've got your guide to watching it unfurl.
.It's the biggest event in politics this summer and we've got your guide to watching it unfurl. At 10 a.m. ET today, the Supreme Court will begin releasing its decisions on a handful of crucial cases, one of which may include the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, aka, Obamacare. Here are all the websites, networks, and Twitter streams worth following to get the best of today's news and analysis:
Websites. For expert analysis, you can't do better than SCOTUS blog, the "TMZ of the legal world," according to The New York Times, which will have seven people working full time covering every aspect of today's decisions (on a typical day, the site has two staffers). The site has updated its software and placed its live blog on a new server to prepare for the burst of traffic. For a right-leaning reaction and analysis of the news, visit The Daily Caller. For a left-leaning perspective, try Talking Points Memo. Reuters is hosting a Supreme Court live blog here. If you're done reading those and the major national news outlets, go to this website, Health Reform Bracketology, to explore the possible outcomes of the case in an uber nerdy game. And, of course, make sure to stay with us for the best legal opinions and analysis of the political ramifications available on the Web.
TV. Cable news teams at Fox News, MSNBC and CNN have flocked to the steps of the Supreme Court. This morning, MSNBC political analyst Mark Halperin is already saying whatever the court rules, it'll be bad for Obama. CNN has Jeffrey Toobin, the closest thing to a household name in TV legal analysis. (He's already tweeting photos from the steps of the court, right)
Twitter. The best Supreme Court reporters will be tweeting tiny bits of analysis and reporting. Keep a close watch on Reuters' Alison Frankel, The Huffington Post's Mike Sacks, The Wall Street Journal's Jess Bravin and Fox News' Shannon Bream. For analysts, keep an eye on law professor Jonathan Turley, ABC legal analyst Dan Abrams and CNN's Jeffrey Toobin. For a larger list of SCOTUS experts, CSPAN has created a solid Twitter list here.
Primers. Keep in mind, Obamacare isn't the only potential case to be handed down today. There's also a ruling on the constitutionality of Arizona's immigration law, a challenge to life without parole sentences, and a challenge to a federal law making it illegal to lie about your military service. The Washington Post's Sarah Kliff has a breakdown of all the various ways the Supreme Court could rule on Obamacare today. NPR's Nina Totenberg, Julie Rovner and Ali Frick have a solid analysis of what's at stake in the ruling. The New York Times' Peter Baker writes this morning that President Obama and Congress have been totally caught off guard by the idea that SCOTUS could strike down the law. The Houston Chronicle's Richard Dunham has five things to look for in the health care, immigration rulings. The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn reminds readers that this is also about the health of people, not just politics, something to remember as the news breaks and the punditry begins.