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{{Infobox Law Firm
{{Primarysources|date=May 2007}}
| firm_name = Jeralyn E. Merritt, Attorney at Law
| firm_logo = "Committed to Defending Constitutional Rights"
| headquarters = [[Denver, Colorado]]
| num_offices = one
| num_attorneys = one
| practice_areas = criminal defense and related forfeitures, with an emphasis on complex federal drug and white collar crimes
| key_people = Jeralyn E. Merritt
| date_founded = 1974
| founder = Jeralyn E. Merritt
| company_type =
| homepage = http://www.jmerrittlawoffice.com
}}
'''Jeralyn Elise Merritt''' (born [[September 28]], [[1949]]) is an [[United States|American]] criminal defense attorney who practices in [[Denver, Colorado]]. In 1996 and 1997 she served as one of six principal trial lawyers for [[Timothy McVeigh]] in the [[Oklahoma City bombing]] case, after the court venue moved to Denver.<ref name=petition>[[United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit]], [http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/mcveigh/front.htm "Petition for Writ of Mandamus of Petitioner-Defendant], Timothy James McVeigh and Brief in Support, March 25, 1997", Case No. 96-CR-68-M, accessed [[1 March]], [[2007]].</ref>


A well-known legal and political analyst, she is a frequent guest on news programs in the [[mass media|public media]]. She created the legal-resource [[website]] ''CrimeLynx: The Criminal Practitioner's Guide through the Internet'' (''crimelynx.com'') in 1996. In 2002 she founded and is the principal author of the award-winning [[blog]] ''TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime'' (''talkleft.com'') ("The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news"), attracting 26,687,817 million distinct visitors by September 22, 2008 (TalkLeft site meter). She also blogs at the ''[[Huffington Post]]'' and, on matters relating to Colorado, is a frequent contributor to ''Elevated Voices'', the daily blog of ''[[5280|5280: Denver's Mile High Magazine]]''.
[[Image:CalumetTheatre CalumetMI.jpg|right|thumb|250px]]


She is the co-author of ''An Analysis'' of the [[USA PATRIOT Act|USA Patriot Act of 2001]] (2002).
'''The Calumet Theatre''' is a historical theatre in the town of [[Calumet, Michigan]], opened on [[March 29]], [[1900]], with the show "[[The Highwaymen]]", on tour from [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]. The theatre soon attracted attention from America's finest actors, actresses, and other theatre greats, such as [[Frank Morgan]] (later famous for his roles in ''The Wizard of Oz''), [[Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.]], [[Lon Chaney, Sr.]], [[John Philip Sousa]], [[Sarah Bernhardt]], and Madame [[Helena Modjeska]] (see below), among others.


==Education==
As time wore on, the theatre began to lose popularity, due mostly to the decline of the local economy and the increasing popularity of movies. Starting at this time, the theatre converted to a motion-picture house, serving in this medium until the 1950s. Summer stock theatre was brought back to the Calumet Theater in 1958 , and performed there every summer until 1968 . The auditorium was restored in 1975. The exterior of the theatre was restored in the years 1988-1989.
A 1967 graduate of [[New Rochelle High School]], in [[New Rochelle, New York]],<ref name=Profile>[http://www.classmates.com/directory/public/memberprofile/list.htm?regId=8698113551 "Jeralyn Merritt"] at ''[[Classmates.com]]'', accessed [[May 23]], [[2008]].</ref> Merritt attended [[Case Western Reserve University]] before transferring to the [[University of Michigan| University of Michigan, Ann Arbor]], where she majored in political science and earned a [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in 1971.<ref name=AttyProf>Jeralyn E. Merritt, [http://www.jmerrittlawoffice.com/jsp2091037.jsp "Attorney Profile"], ''[[LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell]] Law Directory'', ''lawyers.com'', accessed [[May 24]], [[2008]].</ref> In 1973 she earned a [[Juris doctor|J.D.]] degree from the [[University of Denver]] Law School, returning there to teach "Wrongful Convictions" and "Criminal Defense" as Lecturer in Law from 2000 to 2003.<ref name=AttyProf/><ref name=Printz>Carrie Printz, [http://www.du.edu/today/stories/2006/08/2006-09-01-merritt.html "Merritt's Blog Covers Crime and Justice"], ''DU Today'' ([[University of Denver]] publication), [[August 30]], [[2006]], rpt. from ''[[University of Denver]] Magazine'' (Fall 2006), accessed [[April 28]], [[2007]].</ref>


==Achievements==
Today, the Calumet Theatre is home to as many as 80 theatre-related events a year. An estimated 30,000 people visit the theatre every year in these events. The staff consists mostly of volunteers, though there are five full-time staff members. The Calumet Theatre is also a [[National Historic Landmark]].
Admitted to the [[Bar association|Bars]] of the [[Supreme Court of Colorado]], the [[United States District Court|U.S. District Court, District of Colorado]] and [[United States Court of Appeals|U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit]] (all 1974); [[New York]] and the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] (both 1981), the [[United States Court of Appeals|U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit]] (1990), the [[United States District Court|U.S. District Court, District of Arizona]] (1991), and the [[United States Court of Appeals|U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit]] (1999), she is also a member of the [[Colorado Criminal Defense Bar]], as well as a member of the [[LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell]] Legal Advisory Board (1996– ).<ref name=AttyProf/>


In 1995 she received the first annual Marshall Stern Award for Outstanding Legislative Achievement, from the [[National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers]] (NACDL), for which she has served as a member of the Board of Directors (1995–2001), secretary (2002–2003), and treasurer (2003–2004), and as the chair, co-chair, or vice-chair of numerous affiliated committees and projects, including NACDL vice-chair of [[Innocence Project|The Innocence Project]], founded and directed by fellow NACDL members [[Barry Scheck]] and [[Peter Neufeld]], from 1998 to 2002.<ref>Award cited via the link to "Marshall Stern Legislative Achievement Award", [http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/freeform/Awards?OpenDocument "Awards"], ''[[National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers]]'', accessed [[May 24]], [[2008]]; [[cf.]] Jeralyn E. Merritt, [http://www.jmerrittlawoffice.com/achievements.jsp "Achievements"] and [http://www.jmerrittlawoffice.com/proact.jsp "Professional Activities]", ''[[LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell]] Law Directory'', ''lawyers.com'', accessed [[May 24]], [[2008]].</ref>
==Ghost stories==
Some of the visitors to the Calumet Theatre hope to catch a glimpse of the reputed ghost of the theatre, [[Madame Modjeska|Madame Helena Modjeska]]. The story of the ghost first emerged in 1958 , when an actress named [[Adysse Lane]] claimed that the ghost of Madame Modjeska appeared to her during a performance when Lane had forgotten her lines. Since then, it is said that Madame Modjeska is seen in the actors' dressing rooms, and her presence is felt in the vicinity of her portraits.


==Areas of practice==
Also there has been several reports of a hostile presence in the dressing rooms.
Her practice, described on her firm's website as "Committed to Defending Constitutional Rights," is "limited to criminal defense and related forfeitures, with an emphasis on complex federal drug and white collar crimes."<ref>Jeralyn E. Merritt, [http://www.jmerrittlawoffice.com/firmoverview.jsp "Firm Overview"], ''[[LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell]] Law Directory'', ''lawyers.com'', accessed [[May 24]], [[2008]] (throughout).</ref>


==External links==
==Seminars==
She is also a specialist in the use of the internet as a legal research resource and presents seminars and speeches on its use in investigation, on handwriting analysis, and on other matters pertaining to her legal specialties.<ref>Jeralyn E. Merritt, [http://www.jmerrittlawoffice.com/seminars.jsp "Seminars"], ''[[LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell]] Law Directory'', ''lawyers.com'', accessed [[May 24]], [[2008]].</ref>
* [http://www.calumettheatre.com/ Official Website]


==Publications==
{{coord missing|United States}}
===Book===
She is co-author of ''An Analysis'' of the [[USA PATRIOT Act|USA Patriot Act of 2001]] published by Matthew Bender & Co., Inc. (a member of the [[LexisNexis]] Group) in 2002.<ref>She is cited as an "expert" on the [[USA PATRIOT Act|USA Patriot Act of 2001]] by Christopher Reed, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/story/0,3605,1057338,00.html "Caught in the Act"], ''[[The Guardian]]'' [[7 October]], [[2003]], accessed [[May 24]], [[2008]].</ref>

===Internet resource and blog===
She is the creator of ''CrimeLynx'', an internet resource for legal professionals and the general community, and a blog called ''TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime'', which is a three-time winner of a [[Koufax Awards|Koufax Award]] for best single-issue blog (2002, 2003, and 2004––in 2004 ''TalkLeft'' shared with ''Grits for Breakfast''), and, most recently, a winner of the [[Weblog Awards]] for "The Best of the Top 250 Blogs" (2006).<ref>[http://2006.weblogawards.org/2006/12/best_of_the_top_250_blogs.php "Best of the Top 250 Blogs"], ''weblogawards.org'' [[18 December]], [[2006]], accessed [[1 March]], [[2007]]. "The Weblog Awards are the world's largest blog competition, with over 525,000 votes cast in the 2006 edition for finalists in 45 categories. Nominations ended November 24, and voting was conducted between December 7 and December 15 [2006]. Final results [were] announced Dec. 18, 2006." ''TalkLeft'' came in first in its category with "25.15 % (3495)" of the total votes cast.</ref><ref name=Printz/> ''TalkLeft'' became one of the blogs featured in "The Ruckus" section at ''[[Newsweek]]'' Online in 2007.<ref name=Ruckus>[http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/ "The Ruckus"], ''[[Newsweek]]'', ''blog.newsweek.com'', accessed [[May 24]], [[2008]].</ref>

===Accredited press blogger at the Libby trial===
With [[Jane Hamsher]] (creator of ''[[Jane Hamsher|Firedoglake]]'') and [[Marcy Wheeler]] (author of the recently-published book ''[[Anatomy of Deceit]]''), Jeralyn Merritt also provided ground-breaking coverage of the [[United States v. Libby|United States of America v. I. Lewis Libby, also known as "Scooter Libby"]], for which they were among the first bloggers to receive fully-accredited media passes to a U.S. federal trial and during which they also appeared on ''PoliticsTV.com'' for a round up summarizing each day's trial events. Her entries on the Libby trial appeared in ''Firedoglake'' and ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', as well as at ''TalkLeft''.{{See main|United States v. Libby#Press coverage of the trial}}

====YearlyKos panel on live-blogging the trial====
On [[August 2]], [[2007]], Merritt moderated a panel discussion at the 2007 [[YearlyKos]] Convention, featuring [[Christy Hardin Smith]] and [[Marcy Wheeler]] of [[Jane Hamsher]]'s FireDogLake blog, relating their experiences "liveblogging" the [[Scooter Libby]] trial. The panel also included Sheldon L. Snook, Chief of Staff to the [[Chief Judge]] of the [[United States District Court for the District of Columbia]], who was "the court official in charge of news media at the Libby trial."<ref name=MerrittKos>Jeralyn Merritt, [http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/7/17/22053/1145 "Announcing the YKos Panel on Live-Blogging the Scooter Libby Trial"], ''TalkLeft'' (accredited press blog), [[17 July]], [[2007]], accessed [[17 July]], [[2007]].</ref><ref name=Live>[http://www.yearlykosconvention.org/node/166 "Live Blogging the Libby Trial"], program listing, ''[[YearlyKos]]'' convention, [[August 2]], [[2007]], accessed [[July 28]], [[2007]].</ref> Among the topics are: "the credentialing process, the challenges of blogging in real time, the back-end work required and costs incurred in hosting a live trial blog, what bloggers brought to the mix, how we interacted with and were treated by the [[Mass media|MSM]] [Mainstream Media] and how varied our individual perspectives were, allowing us to provide [[Politics|political]] commentary as well as [[Law|legal]], both from a [[Prosecutor|prosecution]] and [[Defense (legal)|defense]] [[Perspective (cognitive)|point of view]]."<ref name=MerrittKos/><ref name=Live/>

===Accredited blogger at the 2008 Democratic National Convention===

TalkLeft was accredited as a national blog at the [[2008 Democratic National Convention]], held in [[Denver, Colorado]], from [[August 25]] through 28, 2008.<ref name=DNCCredBlogs>[http://www.demconvention.com/credentialed-blogs/ "Blogs Credentialed For the Convention"], ''demconvention.com'' ([[2008 Democratic National Convention|2008 Democratic National Convention Committee, Inc.]], [[Denver, Colorado]]), [[May 29]], [[2008]], accessed [[August 27]], [[2008]].</ref>

===Other publication venues===
She also blogs regularly at ''[[The Huffington Post]]'' (since August 2005) and for ''Elevated Voices'', published in ''[[5280|5280: Denver's Mile High Magazine]]'', and, from time to time, as a guest blogger for [[Eric Alterman]], senior fellow and ''[[Altercation]]'' weblogger for ''[[Media Matters for America]]'' (formerly hosted on ''[[MSNBC|MSNBC.com]]'' from 2002 to 2006). She serves occasionally as a guest columnist for newspapers such as the ''[[Rocky Mountain News]]'' and as a guest moderator for online chats on legal cases for ''[[The Washington Post]]''.<ref>Announcements posted and archived at ''TalkLeft'' (June 2002 to March 2007).</ref>

According to [[Dave Kopel]], research director for the Independence Institute of [[Golden, Colorado]], and a lawyer who writes a column for ''[[The Rocky Mountain News]]'', in his commentary on the [[Denver, Colorado]], trial of former [[Qwest]] [[Chief executive officer|CEO]] [[Joseph Nacchio]]:
<blockquote>Denver criminal defense lawyer and civil liberties advocate Jeralyn Merritt runs the TalkLeft.com weblog, which sets a great example of how to write about legal issues in an intelligent way while still connecting with readers who haven't gone to law school. Merritt has been live-blogging the Nacchio trial for 5280 magazine's weblog, Elevated Voices. She provides a running semi-transcript of courtroom events, in far greater detail than you can find anywhere else while the court is in session. She doesn't attend every day of the trial, but when she's there, Elevated Voices is the best Web site for up-to-the minute coverage.<ref name=Kopel>[[Dave Kopel]], [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/opinion_columnists/article/0,2777,DRMN_23972_5439178,00.html "Kopel: Internet Humming with Nacchio Trial Coverage:] Blogs, Web Sites Rife with Insight, Info", ''[[Rocky Mountain News]]'' [[March 24]], [[2007]], Opinion, accessed [[March 24]], [[2007]].</ref>
</blockquote>

==Media experience==
Since 1996, she has served as a legal analyst for and commentator on television news programs. She served as a television legal analyst for [[MSNBC]] (1997–1999) and presently continues as a guest legal commentator on television for [[NBC]], [[MSNBC]], [[CNBC]], [[CNN]], [[Court TV]], and [[Fox News]], presenting her perspective as a criminal defense attorney on many contemporary legal cases being covered on several major national media news programs.<ref>Jeralyn E. Merritt, [http://www.jmerrittlawoffice.com/newsclips.jsp "News Clips"], ''[[LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell]] Law Directory'', ''lawyers.com'', accessed [[May 24]], [[2008]].</ref>

==Bibliography==
*Mailman, Stanley, Jeralyn E. Merritt, Theresa M. B. Van Vliet, and Stephen Yale-Loehr. ''Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism ([[USA Patriot Act|USA PATRIOT Act]]) Act of 2001: An Analysis''. Newark, NJ and San Francisco, CA: Matthew Bender & Co., Inc. (a member of the [[LexisNexis]] Group), 2002. (Rel.1-3/02 Pub. 1271)

==Filmography==
*''[http://alt.tnt.tv/specials/wasjusticedenied/main.html Was Justice Denied?]'' High Road Productions. First broadcast on [[Turner Network Television]] on [[June 20]], [[2000]], with repeated broadcasts on June 24 and June 29, 2000. Accessed [[September 20]], [[2008]]. [Member of "The Legal Team" in feature-length [[documentary film]] re-examining two murder cases in which the defendants may have been wrongfully convicted.]

==Selected webcasts and other video clips==
*[http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/10474 "Götterdemocraterung"] with Jeralyn Merritt and [[Mark Kleiman]]. [[Webcast]] recorded [[April 22]], [[2008]]. Posted on ''[[Bloggingheads.tv]]'', [[April 24]], [[2008]]. Accessed [[May 22]], [[2008]].
*''[http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-34,GGLG:en&oe=UTF-8&um=1&q=Jeralyn+Merritt&sa=N&tab=nv The Libby Trial V-Log]'' with Jeralyn Merritt, [[Jane Hamsher]], and [[Marcy Wheeler]]. ''[[YouTube]]'' clips recorded from [[January 29]] to [[January 31]], [[2007]]. Archived on ''[[Google Video]]''. Accessed [[May 22]], [[2008]].
*[http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/10057 "The Loneliness of the Pro-Hillary Blogger"] with Jeralyn Merritt and [[Ann Althouse]]. [[Webcast]] recorded [[April 8]], [[2008]]. Posted on ''[[Bloggingheads.tv]]'', [[April 9]], [[2008]]. Accessed [[May 22]], [[2008]].
*[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8613418274928272895&q=Jeralyn+Merritt&ei=2u82SLG2AYua-wHhor3kAw "Purging Prosecutors: Was TV News Clueless?"]. Interview of Jeralyn Merritt (guest) by [[Howard Kurtz]]. ''[[Reliable Sources]]'', ''[[CNN]]'', broadcast on [[March 18]], [[2007]]. ''[[YouTube]]'' clip archived on ''[[Google Video]]''. Accessed [[May 23]], [[2008]].
*''[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9177866007465036923&q=Jeralyn+Merritt&ei=D_E2SLbcKor8-wGsytXqAw TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime]''. Promotional video clip posted on ''[[YouTube]]'', by "TalkLeft", on [[July 1]], [[2006]]. Archived on ''[[Google Video]]''. Accessed [[May 23]], [[2008]].
*[http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/10844 "Why Won't Hillary Quit?"] with Jeralyn Merritt and [[Ann Althouse]]. [[Webcast]] recorded [[May 7]], [[2008]].<br>Posted on ''[[Bloggingheads.tv]]'', [[May 7]], [[2008]]. Accessed [[May 22]], [[2008]].

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*[[Dave Kopel|Kopel, Dave]]. [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/opinion_columnists/article/0,2777,DRMN_23972_5439178,00.html "Kopel: Internet Humming with Nacchio Trial Coverage:] Blogs, Web Sites Rife with Insight, Info". ''[[Rocky Mountain News]]'' [[March 24]], [[2007]], Opinion. Accessed [[March 24]], [[2007]].
*Printz, Carrie. [http://www.du.edu/today/stories/2006/08/2006-09-01-merritt.html "Merritt's Blog Covers Crime and Justice"]. ''DU Today'' ([[University of Denver]] publication), [[August 30]], [[2006]]. Rpt. from ''[[University of Denver]] Magazine'' (Fall 2006). Accessed [[April 28]], [[2007]].

==External links==
*''[http://crimelynx.com CrimeLynx]'' – "The Criminal Practitioner's Guide through the Internet" created by Jeralyn Merritt. Incl. hyperlinked "legal resource center for the criminal defense practitioner" and "criminal justice center for professionals and the community".
*[http://www.coloradosupremecourt.com/Search/Attdet.asp?Reg=5288 "Jeralyn E. Merritt"] – [[Colorado Supreme Court]] attorney listing via the ''Attorney Information Search'' (Active status; Registration #5288).
*''[http://www.jmerrittlawoffice.com/ Jeralyn E. Merritt]'' – Firm website published by ''[[LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell]]''.
*''[http://www.martindale.com/Jeralyn-E-Merritt/301843-lawyer.htm Jeralyn E. Merritt]'' – "Lawyer Profile" in ''[[LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell|The Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory]]'' ([[LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell]]).
*[http://alt.tnt.tv/specials/wasjusticedenied/frame_info_exclude.html "Jeralyn E. Merritt"] – "The Legal Team" biography in ''Was Justice Denied?'' ([[Turner Network Television]]).
*[http://www.martindale.com/xp/legal/About_Martindale/Legal_Advisory_Board/legal_advisory_board.xml#merritt "Jeralyn Merritt"] – Legal Advisory Board of [[LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell]].
*''[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeralyn-merritt/ Jeralyn Merritt]'' – Personal blog at ''[[The Huffington Post]]''.
*''[http://talkleft.com TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime]'' – "The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news" and personal blog of Jeralyn Merritt.


{{DEFAULTSORT:Merritt, Jeralyn}}
[[Category:Theatres in Michigan|Calumet Theatre]]
[[Category:American bloggers]]
[[Category:Colorado lawyers]]
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Revision as of 00:17, 14 October 2008

Jeralyn E. Merritt, Attorney at Law
File:"Committed to Defending Constitutional Rights"
HeadquartersDenver, Colorado
No. of officesone
No. of attorneysone
Major practice areascriminal defense and related forfeitures, with an emphasis on complex federal drug and white collar crimes
Key peopleJeralyn E. Merritt
Date founded1974
FounderJeralyn E. Merritt
Websitehttp://www.jmerrittlawoffice.com

Jeralyn Elise Merritt (born September 28, 1949) is an American criminal defense attorney who practices in Denver, Colorado. In 1996 and 1997 she served as one of six principal trial lawyers for Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing case, after the court venue moved to Denver.[1]

A well-known legal and political analyst, she is a frequent guest on news programs in the public media. She created the legal-resource website CrimeLynx: The Criminal Practitioner's Guide through the Internet (crimelynx.com) in 1996. In 2002 she founded and is the principal author of the award-winning blog TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime (talkleft.com) ("The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news"), attracting 26,687,817 million distinct visitors by September 22, 2008 (TalkLeft site meter). She also blogs at the Huffington Post and, on matters relating to Colorado, is a frequent contributor to Elevated Voices, the daily blog of 5280: Denver's Mile High Magazine.

She is the co-author of An Analysis of the USA Patriot Act of 2001 (2002).

Education

A 1967 graduate of New Rochelle High School, in New Rochelle, New York,[2] Merritt attended Case Western Reserve University before transferring to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she majored in political science and earned a B.A. in 1971.[3] In 1973 she earned a J.D. degree from the University of Denver Law School, returning there to teach "Wrongful Convictions" and "Criminal Defense" as Lecturer in Law from 2000 to 2003.[3][4]

Achievements

Admitted to the Bars of the Supreme Court of Colorado, the U.S. District Court, District of Colorado and U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit (all 1974); New York and the U.S. Supreme Court (both 1981), the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit (1990), the U.S. District Court, District of Arizona (1991), and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (1999), she is also a member of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, as well as a member of the LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Legal Advisory Board (1996– ).[3]

In 1995 she received the first annual Marshall Stern Award for Outstanding Legislative Achievement, from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), for which she has served as a member of the Board of Directors (1995–2001), secretary (2002–2003), and treasurer (2003–2004), and as the chair, co-chair, or vice-chair of numerous affiliated committees and projects, including NACDL vice-chair of The Innocence Project, founded and directed by fellow NACDL members Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, from 1998 to 2002.[5]

Areas of practice

Her practice, described on her firm's website as "Committed to Defending Constitutional Rights," is "limited to criminal defense and related forfeitures, with an emphasis on complex federal drug and white collar crimes."[6]

Seminars

She is also a specialist in the use of the internet as a legal research resource and presents seminars and speeches on its use in investigation, on handwriting analysis, and on other matters pertaining to her legal specialties.[7]

Publications

Book

She is co-author of An Analysis of the USA Patriot Act of 2001 published by Matthew Bender & Co., Inc. (a member of the LexisNexis Group) in 2002.[8]

Internet resource and blog

She is the creator of CrimeLynx, an internet resource for legal professionals and the general community, and a blog called TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime, which is a three-time winner of a Koufax Award for best single-issue blog (2002, 2003, and 2004––in 2004 TalkLeft shared with Grits for Breakfast), and, most recently, a winner of the Weblog Awards for "The Best of the Top 250 Blogs" (2006).[9][4] TalkLeft became one of the blogs featured in "The Ruckus" section at Newsweek Online in 2007.[10]

Accredited press blogger at the Libby trial

With Jane Hamsher (creator of Firedoglake) and Marcy Wheeler (author of the recently-published book Anatomy of Deceit), Jeralyn Merritt also provided ground-breaking coverage of the United States of America v. I. Lewis Libby, also known as "Scooter Libby", for which they were among the first bloggers to receive fully-accredited media passes to a U.S. federal trial and during which they also appeared on PoliticsTV.com for a round up summarizing each day's trial events. Her entries on the Libby trial appeared in Firedoglake and The Huffington Post, as well as at TalkLeft.

Main article: United States v. Libby § Press coverage of the trial

YearlyKos panel on live-blogging the trial

On August 2, 2007, Merritt moderated a panel discussion at the 2007 YearlyKos Convention, featuring Christy Hardin Smith and Marcy Wheeler of Jane Hamsher's FireDogLake blog, relating their experiences "liveblogging" the Scooter Libby trial. The panel also included Sheldon L. Snook, Chief of Staff to the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, who was "the court official in charge of news media at the Libby trial."[11][12] Among the topics are: "the credentialing process, the challenges of blogging in real time, the back-end work required and costs incurred in hosting a live trial blog, what bloggers brought to the mix, how we interacted with and were treated by the MSM [Mainstream Media] and how varied our individual perspectives were, allowing us to provide political commentary as well as legal, both from a prosecution and defense point of view."[11][12]

Accredited blogger at the 2008 Democratic National Convention

TalkLeft was accredited as a national blog at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, held in Denver, Colorado, from August 25 through 28, 2008.[13]

Other publication venues

She also blogs regularly at The Huffington Post (since August 2005) and for Elevated Voices, published in 5280: Denver's Mile High Magazine, and, from time to time, as a guest blogger for Eric Alterman, senior fellow and Altercation weblogger for Media Matters for America (formerly hosted on MSNBC.com from 2002 to 2006). She serves occasionally as a guest columnist for newspapers such as the Rocky Mountain News and as a guest moderator for online chats on legal cases for The Washington Post.[14]

According to Dave Kopel, research director for the Independence Institute of Golden, Colorado, and a lawyer who writes a column for The Rocky Mountain News, in his commentary on the Denver, Colorado, trial of former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio:

Denver criminal defense lawyer and civil liberties advocate Jeralyn Merritt runs the TalkLeft.com weblog, which sets a great example of how to write about legal issues in an intelligent way while still connecting with readers who haven't gone to law school. Merritt has been live-blogging the Nacchio trial for 5280 magazine's weblog, Elevated Voices. She provides a running semi-transcript of courtroom events, in far greater detail than you can find anywhere else while the court is in session. She doesn't attend every day of the trial, but when she's there, Elevated Voices is the best Web site for up-to-the minute coverage.[15]

Media experience

Since 1996, she has served as a legal analyst for and commentator on television news programs. She served as a television legal analyst for MSNBC (1997–1999) and presently continues as a guest legal commentator on television for NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, Court TV, and Fox News, presenting her perspective as a criminal defense attorney on many contemporary legal cases being covered on several major national media news programs.[16]

Bibliography

  • Mailman, Stanley, Jeralyn E. Merritt, Theresa M. B. Van Vliet, and Stephen Yale-Loehr. Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT Act) Act of 2001: An Analysis. Newark, NJ and San Francisco, CA: Matthew Bender & Co., Inc. (a member of the LexisNexis Group), 2002. (Rel.1-3/02 Pub. 1271)

Filmography

Selected webcasts and other video clips

Notes

  1. ^ United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, "Petition for Writ of Mandamus of Petitioner-Defendant, Timothy James McVeigh and Brief in Support, March 25, 1997", Case No. 96-CR-68-M, accessed 1 March, 2007.
  2. ^ "Jeralyn Merritt" at Classmates.com, accessed May 23, 2008.
  3. ^ a b c Jeralyn E. Merritt, "Attorney Profile", LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, lawyers.com, accessed May 24, 2008.
  4. ^ a b Carrie Printz, "Merritt's Blog Covers Crime and Justice", DU Today (University of Denver publication), August 30, 2006, rpt. from University of Denver Magazine (Fall 2006), accessed April 28, 2007.
  5. ^ Award cited via the link to "Marshall Stern Legislative Achievement Award", "Awards", National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, accessed May 24, 2008; cf. Jeralyn E. Merritt, "Achievements" and "Professional Activities", LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, lawyers.com, accessed May 24, 2008.
  6. ^ Jeralyn E. Merritt, "Firm Overview", LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, lawyers.com, accessed May 24, 2008 (throughout).
  7. ^ Jeralyn E. Merritt, "Seminars", LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, lawyers.com, accessed May 24, 2008.
  8. ^ She is cited as an "expert" on the USA Patriot Act of 2001 by Christopher Reed, "Caught in the Act", The Guardian 7 October, 2003, accessed May 24, 2008.
  9. ^ "Best of the Top 250 Blogs", weblogawards.org 18 December, 2006, accessed 1 March, 2007. "The Weblog Awards are the world's largest blog competition, with over 525,000 votes cast in the 2006 edition for finalists in 45 categories. Nominations ended November 24, and voting was conducted between December 7 and December 15 [2006]. Final results [were] announced Dec. 18, 2006." TalkLeft came in first in its category with "25.15 % (3495)" of the total votes cast.
  10. ^ "The Ruckus", Newsweek, blog.newsweek.com, accessed May 24, 2008.
  11. ^ a b Jeralyn Merritt, "Announcing the YKos Panel on Live-Blogging the Scooter Libby Trial", TalkLeft (accredited press blog), 17 July, 2007, accessed 17 July, 2007.
  12. ^ a b "Live Blogging the Libby Trial", program listing, YearlyKos convention, August 2, 2007, accessed July 28, 2007.
  13. ^ "Blogs Credentialed For the Convention", demconvention.com (2008 Democratic National Convention Committee, Inc., Denver, Colorado), May 29, 2008, accessed August 27, 2008.
  14. ^ Announcements posted and archived at TalkLeft (June 2002 to March 2007).
  15. ^ Dave Kopel, "Kopel: Internet Humming with Nacchio Trial Coverage: Blogs, Web Sites Rife with Insight, Info", Rocky Mountain News March 24, 2007, Opinion, accessed March 24, 2007.
  16. ^ Jeralyn E. Merritt, "News Clips", LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, lawyers.com, accessed May 24, 2008.

References

External links

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