Bio
Joan Biskupic is a full-time CNN legal analyst and author. Before joining CNN in 2017, Biskupic was an editor-in-charge for Legal Affairs at Reuters and, previously, the Supreme Court correspondent for the Washington Post and for USA Today. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory journalism in 2015. In addition to her biography of Chief Justice John Roberts, The Chief, Biskupic is the author of books on Sandra Day O’Connor, Antonin Scalia, and Sonia Sotomayor. A native of Chicago, Biskupic holds a law degree from Georgetown University and lives in Washington, D.C.
Journalism
CNN, Legal analyst and Supreme Court biographer. Full-time July 2017 to present; part-time contributor July 2016-July 2017.
University of California, Irvine, Law School, Visiting Law Professor, July 2016-June 2017.
Reuters News, Washington Bureau, Legal Affairs editor-in-charge, 2012-2016.
USA Today, Supreme Court Correspondent, 2000-2012 (with intermittent book leaves).
The Washington Post, Supreme Court Correspondent, 1992-2000.
Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, Legal Affairs Reporter, 1989-1992.
Books
Nine Black Robes: Inside the Supreme Court’s Drive to the Right and Its Historic Consequences. William Morrow/HarperCollins, 2023.
The Chief: The Life and Turbulent Times of John Roberts. Basic Books/Perseus, 2019.
Breaking In: The Rise of Sonia Sotomayor and the Politics of Justice. Sarah Crichton/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014.
American Original: The Life and Constitution of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Sarah Crichton/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009.
Sandra Day O’Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became its Most Influential Justice. Ecco/HarperCollins, 2005.
Congressional Quarterly’s Guide to the U.S. Supreme Court. Congressional Quarterly Press, 1997; two-volume edition, with co-author Elder Witt; related books created by the authors: The Supreme Court and Individual Rights; The Supreme Court and the Powers of the American Government; The Supreme Court at Work, 1997.
The Supreme Court Yearbook. Congressional Quarterly Press; series originator and author for the first three volumes, covering the 1989-1990, 1990-1991, and 1991-1992 terms; American Library Association selected the inaugural edition as an Outstanding Reference Source in 1991.
Select Honors and Awards
Pulitzer Prize, Finalist in Explanatory Journalism category for “Echo Chamber,” Reuters Special Report on elite Supreme Court Lawyers, 2015.
Hillman Prize for Investigative Journalism in the Common Good, web journalism top honor, for “Echo Chamber” project, 2015.
Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center, Finalist Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Journalism, for “Echo Chamber” project, 2015.
Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree, Georgetown University, 2014.
Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree, Marquette University, 2010.
Everett McKinley Dirksen/National Press Foundation Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress, for 1991 coverage of Clarence Thomas confirmation.
Education
Georgetown University Law Center, J.D. (member of the District of Columbia bar, 1994 to present)
Marquette University, B.A., Journalism
