Legal Affairs Correspondent

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Some of America’s most contentious debates are playing out in its courtrooms and we’re seeking an experienced legal affairs correspondent to travel the country to bring attention to our nation’s judiciary, particularly the federal courts and their impact on our politics and our lives. Legal disputes combine intellectual argument with high-stakes human conflict and we’re eager to unleash a dogged reporter to help readers better understand the inner workings of our court system.

The beat would include our nation’s judges, from those presiding over contentious local disputes to federal appeals court judges who usually remain anonymous to the public unless they are nominated to the Supreme Court. The dispute over the documents seized from former President Trump’s Florida residence is but one recent example of the outsized role federal judges play in the biggest stories of the day, with Judge Aileen M. Cannon of the Southern District of Florida recently overruling the special master in the case, Judge Raymond J. Dearie of the Eastern District of New York. The beat would include the legal battles now playing out in the states on matters as varied as abortion, immigration and affirmative action.