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How the Washington Post Makes Trump Supreme Court Case More Understandable 2 min read
Supreme Court

How the Washington Post Makes Trump Supreme Court Case More Understandable

Washington Post creates user-friendly guide to decipher Supreme Court case about whether Trump can appear on 2024 ballot.

By Cary Littlejohn

Today the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the fast-tracked case from Colorado to determine whether former president Donald Trump can be excluded from the 2024 ballot.

Both the New York Times and The Washington Post had live audio streams of the arguments, which useful graphics to help listeners know which advocate or justice was speaking. Both had ongoing live-blogging during the arguments, distilling and interpreting arguments to a lay audience.

Each paper likewise had a plethora of supporting digital features, and this one from the Post is one of the most concise and most useful I've seen.

Screenshot. Washington Post

The statutory language in full, highlighting pertinent portions. Trump's argument, plainly stated, linked out to the actual briefs. Same for the Colorado challengers. These summaries distill what could be clunky legalese into easy-to-follow statements.

Screenshot. Washington Post

Then a plain-language summary of what the courts involved at various levels have said on the topic, along with links to those decisions.

Screenshot. Washington Post

And it concludes with a collection of links to related case law that had been cited as precedents in the various decisions.

Just a great use of the digital platform to put a lot of information in one spot and organized in a way to help readers understand a complex issue as easily as possible.