Anticipated issues with the 2024 presidential election. Judicial ethics on the Supreme Court. Antitrust problems around recent corporate mega-mergers. Protecting the underserved from wrongful evictions.
This year’s 19th annual Journalist Law School, like those that came before it, addressed legal issues ripped from the headlines, as well as core law school subjects like criminal law and constitutional law, when it convened the 2024 fellowship class.
The fellowship condenses core law-school subjects and break-out topics into a long weekend filled with courses taught by law professors, judges, and prominent attorneys. The fellowship has a competitive application and accepts only about 30 out of a pool numbering in the hundreds.
The 2024 class of Journalist Law Fellows comprised 31 journalists who work in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., and beyond. Fellows ranged from writers and editors to multimedia producers and on-camera correspondents, from outlets including the New York Times, MSNBC, USA Today, The Hollywood Reporter, and CBS News. Most cover courts, crime, government, and politics.
From July 31 to August 3 in Loyola Law School’s Robinson Courtroom, faculty presented on a range of law fundamentals, from criminal law with Professor Laurie Levenson and constitutional law with Professor Jessica Levinson ‘05 (who is also the director of JLS) to evidence with Professor Gary Williams, Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Chair in Civil Rights. The goal of these sessions was to give the fellows a foundation in legal processes so their reporting is more accurate and incisive.
“My objective is to help you so when lawyers tell you about evidence, you can better analyze whether that evidence is admissible in trial. You’ll get it right no matter what the lawyers tell you,” Williams told the fellows.
Faculty also presented on current events within their area of expertise to provide context for some of the top legal issues of today. Among others, Professor Justin Levitt discussed voting rights and election security leading up to the 2024 presidential election, and Professor David Glazier gave an overview of international law including the International Criminal Court and the definition of genocide. LMU Professor of Political Science and International Relations Michael Genovese discussed the American presidency.
Levitt said he’s participated in every Journalist Law School, noting that it’s still “one of [my] favorite weeks of the year.”
The second day closed with a panel of retired Superior Court judges, who gave the fellows insight into their jobs and how they feel about interacting with the media.
Judge Daniel Buckley, retired from the Los Angeles Superior Court and currently a mediator and arbitrator at Signature Resolution, urged the fellows to observe as much of a trial as possible, even the pre-trial, and read all documents and rulings to get a better understanding of the whole process and background of a case. Even though judges are not allowed to talk to journalists about their active cases, “the judiciary has the highest regard for what you do and how you work to make our communities and country better,” Buckley said.
On the last day, the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) sponsored a panel with three members, including current president Andrea La’Verne Edney and past president Donna Melby ’79, who explained why she and ABOTA helped to launch the first-ever Journalist Law School. It was born out of a need she and fellow attorneys and judges recognized for journalists to be better able to report on cases and inform the public, since those involved cannot comment on it themselves.
“We need more than trial bar organizations to respond – we need the public to be educated, to take a vested interest and respond on behalf of judges who can’t respond by themselves,” Melby said. She noted that educating journalists through JLS is more crucial than ever because “the divisiveness of our society is greater than it’s ever been.”
For the fellows, JLS provided a much-needed crash course in topics they often find themselves reporting on with little expertise.
“I have no legal background, so I feel like I’ve been blundering my way through all the coverage of the courts, and [JLS] feels both really great and really scary that it’s not mandatory for everyone,” said Liz Baker, producer of NPR’s National Desk. “It’s already helping me, and it’s been really interesting.”
Shelby Nelson, a reporter for KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, said her favorite sessions were the judges’ panel, a panel discussion about eviction law, and Levenson’s introduction to criminal law.
“Having a good background of the criminal system and where to look for things is so important. It cuts [reporting] time in half if you know that,” Nelson said. “I think if the general public were to know a little more what goes on behind the scenes and what’s required of judges and the decision-making, we’d have a more vested interest in what’s going on in our country.”
