Buckle up: The Supreme Court is expected to rule before the end of June in a number of cases with significant implications for health in America. With transgender health care, Planned Parenthood funding, preventive care, and several environmental cases, among others, in the balance, what’s the best way to prepare to cover these important stories?
This webinar will highlight the big cases and point you toward resources and strategies for writing solid court-related stories on deadline. You’ll hear from Chris Geidner, also known as Law Dork for his Substack newsletter on court happenings, and Alison Tanner of the National Women’s Law Center. They’ll talk about what to look for, how to find an expert to help you interpret accurately and other tricks to reporting on the legal stuff with less stress.
Moderator
Alice Miranda Ollstein
Senior health care reporter, POLITICOAlice Miranda Ollstein is a senior health care reporter for POLITICO, with a focus on sexual and reproductive health.
Her coverage of state and federal health policy developments on Capitol Hill, within government agencies, in the courts, and on the campaign trail draws connections between decisions made by elected officials and their impact on the ground. She has broken stories on the Covid-19 response, the strategies of both anti-abortion and pro-abortion-rights groups, and both the Biden and Trump transitions.
Alice graduated from Oberlin College in 2010 and has been reporting in D.C. ever since, covering the Supreme Court, Congress and national elections for TV, radio, print, and online outlets. Her work has aired on Free Speech Radio News, All Things Considered, WAMU and WTOP, and her writing has been published by Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic, and La Opinión. She was elected in 2016 as an at-large board member of the DC Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. In 2017, she was named one of the New Media Alliance’s “Rising Stars” under 30. She is the author of a forthcoming book on the broader health care impacts of post-Roe abortion restrictions, set to be published by The New Press.
Alice grew up in Santa Monica, California and began freelancing for local newspapers in her early teens. When not working on a story, she can be found riding her bicycle around the region, attempting to grow vegetables in her backyard, and playing with her nephews.
Chris Geidner
Law DorkChris Geidner is an award-winning journalist who covers the Supreme Court, law, and politics at Law Dork. His more than two decades in journalism includes widely recognized coverage of the courts, LGBTQ issues, the criminal legal system, and other complex legal and political questions.
He previously worked as the Supreme Court correspondent and legal editor at BuzzFeed News and has written for many publications, including The New York Times and MSNBC. Among other recognition, Geidner was named Journalist of the Year by NLGJA, the LGBTQ journalists’ association, in 2014.
Before moving to Washington, D.C., in 2009, Geidner was a practicing lawyer in Columbus, Ohio. He attended Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Ohio State Law Journal. It was in law school that Geidner originally started the Law Dork blog.
Alison Tanner
Senior litigation counsel for reproductive rights and health, National Women’s Law CenterAlison Tanner (she/her) litigates cases defending and expanding access to reproductive health care, including emergency abortion care and assisted reproductive technologies.
Previously, she was a staff attorney at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the Steven Gey Constitutional Litigation Fellow at Americans United for Separation of Church and State. She graduated magna cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law.