Abstract
It is rare to encounter a book that appears to be a nearly flawless fit for teaching a particular class. Indeed, for many classes, professors have a wide variety of similar texts to choose from based on their particular teaching style, specific content they want to highlight, or an author’s strong writing. Toni Locy’s new textbook, however, comes as close as possible to being the perfect text for a course on legal reporting. It is hard to imagine a better-written or more thorough book for those interested in teaching courses on covering U.S. courts. It is truly an exceptional text, full of excellent, practical, hands-on advice on everything from how to develop and protect sources to the best way to respond to unsympathetic judges, unwelcomed subpoenas, courtroom closures, and surly court security officers.
The textbook is divided into four sections, which include three chapters each. The first section explores the U.S. court system and offers a brief examination of the law. The second section, one of the strongest sections of the textbook, explains legal documents and where to find them—it contains incredibly helpful reproductions of sample documents. The third section offers an extremely rich and detailed examination of criminal and civil trials. The final section covers court closures, gag orders, terrorism trials, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Locy takes a practical approach, using entertaining anecdotes collected over decades of reporting to provide readers a near step-by-step process for covering state and federal cases, both criminal and civil. Locy’s stories entertain, inspire, and bring her lessons to life. While many readers may think of Locy primarily for her infamous involvement with the 2001 FBI anthrax investigation when she landed in jail for refusing to identify her sources, this is but one story discussed in the book. While the episode is informative and covered in detail, it is simply one of many used to explain a point Locy is trying to make. Locy shares many interesting stories from her time at the Washington Post, Boston Globe, and USA Today that will engage students and help them understand legal processes and terms.
The textbook has many highlights, a few of which particularly stand out. Chapter three—police investigations—and Chapter four—court records—are perhaps the finest in the book. Each contains helpful hints illustrated by her stories, as well as sample documents and directions on how to obtain these documents. Locy clearly explains how to find information, tells her readers what to look for to understand court documents, and explains how to communicate legal information in informative and interesting ways. Locy also warns novice reporters to not get caught up in the hype of ongoing investigations and cautions them on the dangers of becoming a pawn of law enforcement, prosecutors, or defense attorneys. In Chapter six, Locy adroitly discusses the dangers of “the institutionalized manipulation of reporters, particularly in Washington” (p. 85) and explains how easy it is for reporters to become tools of sophisticated political actors. She also takes time to lament the adoption of the term “person of interest,” encouraging legal reporters to avoid using the term, which has no legal definition but can be used to smear an innocent person. Later chapters reinforce earlier discussions and cover important new territory. For example, Chapter five has an excellent explanation of the basics of Fourth Amendment law.
Although Locy wisely skips most of media law, she does cover the basics and devotes more space to covering Supreme Court cases dealing with access to courts and court documents. In addition, Locy discusses the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the State Secrets Privilege established in United States v. Reynolds, and the Classified Information Protection Act. While these topics are not always covered in depth in media law textbooks, they are important for legal reporters to understand.
In addition, the book offers great advice for all journalism students regardless of the beat they will eventually cover. For example, in Chapter one, Locy discusses the importance of verifying information prior to dissemination. While she certainly embraces the power of technology and the benefits of using social media, Locy reminds young journalists that getting it right is much more important than getting it first. As she points out to her readers, reporters should not bungle the basics. Locy also discusses the use and evolution of terms such as “off the record” and “deep background.” She cautions young journalists to keep things simple and make sure both reporter and source set clear ground rules and share the same definition of these crucial, yet often misunderstood terms.
This is an outstanding textbook. As noted, it would be a near perfect choice for professors teaching a class specifically dedicated to legal reporting—a class many journalism programs unfortunately do not offer, but absolutely should. As Locy correctly points out, reporting about the U.S. legal system is extremely important to a democracy, and the courts are excellent places to gather information and develop gripping in-depth reporting about fascinating stories. As she writes, “courthouses are goldmines, storing nuggets of information for reporters to unearth as they research people and companies” (p. 71). Locy’s book is the map students need to help them find that gold.