Georgia Recount, November, 2020 (John Amis / Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
It may be a story with substance to it yet: Big Law Joins Fight to Protect Voting Rights, by David Gelles and Andrew Ross Sorkin, The New York Times, Tuesday, April 13, 2021, at B1. As published, however, this NYT story was a bust. This particular reporting did not fulfill the headline that someone besides the reporters wrote for it. (Reporters rarely write the headlines for their own stories. However, they almost always know what the headline is going to be on their story.)
I would like to say at the beginning that this is no criticism of the people whose bylines are on this story. They are two of the more respected journalists at The New York Times. They have earned that respect. However, everyone has a bad day and this was just one of theirs. If you want to be impressed with the knowledge that no-one is perfect, you can ask anyone who is a parent.
The NYT reporters on this story did not feel the need to beef up their reporting to match the headline. They mentioned once or twice that law firms have "formed a coalition" to challenge voter suppression laws, but that was all. No details, no specifics, no facts. Perhaps there was really nothing yet to report when this story was reported in the NYT.
News stories are breaking slowly on other outlets. For example, NBC News reports that 65 law firms are signing a letter to tell government officials to respect voting rights. A much smaller number of law firms, apparently something on the order of 16 law firms, are 'committing' in some way to defend voting rights. The NBC News story is here: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/top-private-law-firms-plan-swat-teams-fight-voting-laws-n1263891.
I confess to a healthy skepticism of how far this story goes. Let me explain.
My skepticism comes from experience. I have known lawyers for all of my professional life. I am a lawyer. It is hard to imagine lawyers working together on the same side amicably, suppressing their individual egos for the greater good, unless they are all paid by the same person or corporation. But I have constantly been surprised in my life, and I am open to surprise now -- in fact, in this case, I am hoping for it. These could be the people we have been waiting for, as the saying goes, and in the end they could be the ones who end up doing things that need to be done.
So far, there's lots of noise frankly, and little action. It's probably too soon to see the end of this or where it may go. Time will tell ....
But let's please get some facts in the meantime. Or to borrow a phrase, this is a tale full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
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