Joan Biskupic

Joan Biskupic (born c. 1956)^[1] is an American journalist, author, and lawyer who has covered the United States Supreme Court since 1989. She has been Editor in Charge, Legal Affairs for Reuters since February 2012. For the 2016-17 academic year, she is a visiting professor at the University of California, Irvine's School of Law. She is also a legal analyst for CNN. From 2000-12 she was the Legal Affairs Correspondent for USA Today.

From 1992 to 2000, she was the Supreme Court reporter for The Washington Post, and from 1989 to 1992 she was a legal affairs writer for Congressional Quarterly.^[2][3] Her work was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting in 2015. She was awarded the 1991 Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting on Congress for her coverage of the Clarence Thomas hearings for Congressional Quarterly.^[4][5] Prior to that, she covered government and politics for the Milwaukee Journal^[6] and the Tulsa Tribune.

Biskupic has written a number of books on the Supreme Court, including biographies of Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, and Sonia Sotomayor. She was awarded three residential fellowships at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, in 2003, 2004 and 2008, for work on these biographies.^[7][8][9] She is also a commentator who appears regularly on television and radio programs. She is a regular panelist on Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and has appeared on Diane Rehm Show, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Nightline and Face the Nation.^[10]

Education

Biskupic is one of nine siblings born to a Roman Catholic family of Croatian and Irish descent. She received her high school diploma from Benet Academy,^[11] a B.A. degree in Journalism from Marquette University, an M.A. degree in English from the University of Oklahoma, and a J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law Center. One of her brothers, Steven M. Biskupic (born 1961), is a former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, now in private practice. Another brother, Vince Biskupic, is a judge on the Outagamie Circuit Court.

She has been a member of the District of Columbia bar since 1994.^[7] Biskupic received Honorary Doctors of Laws from Georgetown University in May 2014^[12] and Marquette University in May 2010.

Publications

• The Supreme Court Yearbook 1989–1990, Congressional Quarterly (1991), ISBN 0-87187-590-X
• The Supreme Court Yearbook 1990–1991, Congressional Quarterly (1992), ISBN 0-87187-637-X
• The Supreme Court Yearbook 1991–1992, Congressional Quarterly (1992), ISBN 0-87187-716-3
• Guide to the US Supreme Court, with Elder Witt, 3rd edition, Congressional Quarterly (1996), ISBN 1-56802-130-5
• The Supreme Court and Individual Rights, 3rd Edition, with Elder Witt, Congressional Quarterly (1997), ISBN 1-56802-239-5
• The Supreme Court at Work, 2nd edition, with Elder Witt, Congressional Quarterly (1997), ISBN 1-56802-323-5
• The Supreme Court and the Powers of the American Government, with Elder Witt, Congressional Quarterly (1997), ISBN 1-56802-324-3
• Sandra Day O'Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice, Harper Collins (2005), ISBN 0-06-059018-1
• American Original: The Life and Constitution of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2009), ISBN 0-374-20289-3
• Breaking In: The Rise of Sonia Sotomayor and the Politics of Justice, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2014), ISBN 978-0-374-29874-6

References

External links

• Joan Biskupic's web site
• Joan Biskupic's blog: Court Beat
• Appearances on C-SPAN