Nothing is more welcome on a broiling summer day in DC than the cool marble halls inside the Supreme Court building . Outside, by the plaza, camera crews waited under beach umbrellas for reporters with news of the Court’s latest…
Author: Art Lien
Courtartist is me, Art Lien. I've been sketching the courts since 1976, and for most of that time the U.S. Supreme Court has been my regular beat. I've been working almost exclusively for NBC News since 1980.
Courtroom sketching is a form of visual journalism or reportage drawing that is slowly dying out. Where once upon a time news organization each had their own artist covering a story, today a "pool" artist often sketches for all. It is a demanding and stressful discipline where the drawing is often done directly and under tight deadline.
Catching Up: Some SCOTUS Opinions
First things first, DC threw a parade last week to celebrate the home team Stanley Cup winners. Congratulations Washington Capitals! Below are sketches of opinions announced in three major cases, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Husted v. A.…
Catching Up: AT&T and a Leaker
I’ve been neglecting this blog lately, forgive me. Here are a couple of sketches from the past two weeks. Depicted above is the conclusion of the months long AT&T / Time Warner anti-trust trial. Judge Leon delivered his decision approving…
Go Directly To Jail
Special Counsel Mueller’s team asked a judge on Friday to reconsider the conditions of Paul Manafort’s bail in light of additional charges relating to his attempts to influence potential witnesses. It surprised no one when judge Amy Berman Jackson revoked…
More SCOTUS Sketches From Last Week
I’m a little late getting these posted. The last week of arguments for the term was dominated by Wednesday’s Trump v. Hawaii, which I’ve already posted, but the justices also heard cases on Texas gerrymandering, Abbott v. Perez, and on…
Tagged with: Alien Torts Act, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Gerrymander, Justice Kennedy, Texas
Trump v. Hawaii Sketches
On the last argument day of the term the Justices heard the challenge to Trump’s travel ban. Line sitters had been camped out on the sidewalk since Monday. As expected the courtroom was packed. If you look closely at the…
Tagged with: Travel Ban; Trump; Immigration; Lin-Manuel Miranda
Mueller Team’s Big Guns
At a Thursday hearing on Paul Manafort’s motion to dismiss criminal charges for acts committed prior to 2014 as beyond the scope of the Mueller’s investigation the Special Counsel’s Office brought out the heavy hitters including Deputy Solicitor General Michael…
CEO’s Testify At Anti-Trust Trial
The AT&T/Time Warner anti-trust trial before Judge Richard Leon culminated this week with testimony from the companies CEO’s.
Tax Week At SCOTUS
In case you needed a reminder that this Tuesday was the tax filing deadline, which as it turned out was extended 24 hours because of an IRS computer glitch, the Supreme Court heard arguments in two tax related cases this…
Tagged with: Taxes; RRTA;
Zwaan Song
Posing nonchalantly, one hand on the lectern, the other in his pocket, Alex van der Zwaan received a sentence of thirty days and $20,000. from judge Amy Berman Jackson. Zwaan, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, is the…
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