NYT Assigns Emily Bazelon to Kavanaugh Coverage After She Declared Opposition to Nomination

The New York Times published a news article Monday co-authored by Yale Law School Fellow Emily Bazelon about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh — despite previously declaring her opposition to the judge’s nomination.

(UPDATE — 1:19 P.M.) In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, a New York Times spokesperson says the paper should have commissioned a newsroom reporter to cover the alleged Kavanaugh incident instead of Bazelon. “Emily Bazelon is a writer for The New York Times Magazine who occasionally writes op-eds for the opinion section. She is not a news reporter,” the Times’ statement reads. “Her role in this story was to help colleagues in the newsroom gather public documents in New Haven, where Emily is based. In retrospect, editors should have used a newsroom reporter for that assignment. To be clear, the story is straightforward, fact-based and we fully stand behind it.”

According to the Times pieces, Kavanaugh tossed ice at a man during an altercation at a New Haven, Connecticut bar after a UB40 concert in 1985. The future Supreme Court nominee, who was later questioned about the alleged incident by police, was not arrested or charged in relation to the brief scuttle.

The Times failed to disclose that the article, co-authored by Emily Bazelon and Ben Protess, was written by at least one individual who has publicly announced her opposition to Kavanaugh.

“As a @YaleLawSch grad & lecturer, I strongly disassociate myself from tonight’s praise of Brett Kavanaugh,” Bazelon tweeted on July 9 — the day President Donald Trump announced Kavanaugh’s nomination. “With respect, he’s a 5th vote for a hard-right turn on voting rights and so much more that will harm the democratic process & prevent a more equal society.”

In a follow-up tweet, the Yale Law Schooler lecturer wrote: “Those are fundamental values we try to instill in our students. They matter more than collegiality and credentials.”

According to her biography, Bazelon is also a Research Scholar at Yale Law School, a staff writer at the New York Times Magazine and the best-selling author of Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy.