Jesse Wegman

I am a member of The New York Times editorial board, where I write about the Supreme Court, law and politics.

What I Cover

As a member of the editorial board, I participate in the debates and discussions that lead to Times editorials. Under my own byline, I focus on the Supreme Court and national legal affairs. After the election of Donald Trump in 2016 and the tumultuous years that have followed, I adapted to this unprecedented situation by expanding my coverage to include the intersection of law and politics, the rule of law, electoral reform and the broader challenges facing American democracy. Those subjects remain at the core of my work today. While I still write about the Supreme Court’s bigger decisions, I aim to do so through a wider lens, not only analyzing the justices’ rulings but considering them in light of the court’s role in modern American society.

My Background

I have been a journalist for 27 years, first at The Atlantic and at NPR, where I reported and produced audio news and features. In the early 2000s I attended law school at New York University, then clerked for a federal magistrate judge in Manhattan. In 2007, I returned to journalism as the managing editor of the New York Observer, then as legal editor at Reuters and a senior editor at The Daily Beast and Newsweek. I joined The Times in 2013.

My first book, “Let The People Pick The President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College,” was published by St. Martin’s Press in 2020. I am currently at work on the first mainstream biography of James Wilson, the most democratic of all the founding fathers — and, not incidentally, the most ardent advocate for a popular vote for president.

I grew up in Boston and Los Angeles, went to Wesleyan University, and lived in New York City for 20 years before moving with my family to northern New England a few years ago.

Journalistic Ethics

Some people assume we opinion writers can say whatever we want. Not true. While we have certain freedoms that our newsroom colleagues don’t (the news and Opinion operate separately), we are all bound by the same constraints of factual accuracy, journalistic ethics and basic integrity. We go to great lengths to ensure we’ve got our facts right, even (especially) on deadline. Like my colleagues in every part of the paper, I get very upset with myself when I make a mistake. I cut the correction note out of the print edition and tape it to my computer, as a reminder always to be careful. After all, anyone can spout an opinion about anything. To do so while hewing strictly to the facts is an honorable discipline, and I am grateful to be able to practice that discipline here every day.

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