The Volokh Conspiracy

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Justice Scalia Did Not Read The New York Times; Justice Barrett Does

It is very useful to know where a Justice gets her news from.

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Back in 2013, Justice Scalia gave a wide-ranging interview with New York Magazine. One of my favorite exchanges concerned which media Scalia consumes:

What's your media diet? Where do you get your news?
Well, we get newspapers in the morning.

"We" meaning the justices?
No! Maureen and I.

Oh, you and your wife …
I usually skim them. We just get The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Times. We used to get the Washington Post, but it just … went too far for me. I couldn't handle it anymore.

What tipped you over the edge?
It was the treatment of almost any conservative issue. It was slanted and often nasty. And, you know, why should I get upset every morning? I don't think I'm the only one. I think they lost subscriptions partly because they became so shrilly, shrilly liberal.

So no New York Times, either?
No New York Times, no Post.

Justice Barrett apparently has different reading habits. During oral argument in United States v. Hemani, she pointed to a recent article in the New York Times concerning the harms from marijuana:

And so I guess my concern is let's say that I think Congress could make a determination, maybe, I don't know, I mean, there was just an article in the New York Times about the dangers of marijuana, and, you know, maybe that's true.

I did a quick search of the briefs in Hemani, and I couldn't find any articles from the Times cited on this point. The most recent piece from the NYT Editorial Board on February 9 (after amicus briefs were due) was titled, It's Time for America to Admit That It Has a Marijuana Problem.

I would wager that Justice Barrett consumes news from the New York Times on her own. Even if Justice Barrett has her social media mentions screened (I am skeptical), she voluntarily reads a publication that is intent on influencing her--and not in a good way. Remember what Jodi Kantor of the New York Times said: "I just want them to know we're watching them."

For what it's worth, I subscribe to the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times, and several other outlets. I try to read each site daily so I know what everyone on all sides is saying.