Linda Greenhouse is going to retire from the NYT at the end of this Supreme Court term, which I think is sad news for all of use who have relied upon her to make sense of Supreme Court cases in very diverse areas. I have had many conversations with Linda over the years about election law issues, and I’ve always marveled not only over how much homework she did (she seemed to master the arguments in all of the briefs—including the amicus briefs). She has an unrivaled ability to see beyond the lawyers’ argument to the politics and pulse of each case.
In this article she explains how she had 10 minutes to explain Bush v. Gore to the nation. She will be missed sorely on the daily beat, but at least she’s still planning on writing about the Court.