Students and faculty were treated to a guest speaker at assembly Monday morning, November 16th, New York Times Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse.

Students and faculty were treated to a guest speaker at assembly Monday morning, November 16th, New York Times Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse.

Linda Greenhouse has reported on the Supreme Court at the New York Times for over 30 years. Over those years she has written about and covered an incredible array of cases, all related to the way the Supreme Court interprets the Constitution and its guarantee of rights and protections to the American people.

She spoke to the Hopkins community about the new session of the Supreme Court that began on October 1st, the first session for newly appointed Justice Sonia Sotomayor. She said that in her experience, the Supreme Court is on of the most mysterious institutions in the country, often counterintuitive to the pulse of the nation and nontransparent in its decision making process. One of the contributing factors to this disconnect with the American people is due to the long terms Judges are able to remain on the Supreme Court. Once appointed by the President and Congress, Justices can stay as long as they want until they choose to retire. She also explained that most decisions are decided by a 5 to 4 vote, which highlights the fact that the judges are split almost equally between liberal and conservative values.

She also spoke of a few of the more memorable cases she has reported on, including the Lilly Ledbetter case and the campaign finance debate. As the end of assembly approached she opened the floor to questions from students.

Linda Greenhouse is a graduate of Radcliffe College, where she majored in American government and was an editor for The Harvard Crimson. After graduating from Radcliffe she worked as a news clerk for journalist James Reston. She holds a Master of Studies of Law degree from the Yale Law School, as well as several honorary degrees. In 1998, Greenhouse was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the Supreme Court, and in 2004 she received the Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and the John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism from the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

To read Linda Greenhouse's articles from the New York Times, click here.