The Marshall Project

1,000 Days of Opening Statement

The Marshall Project’s Andrew Cohen on how he curates our popular morning newsletter and what’s changed in criminal justice news since it began four years ago.

Today The Marshall Project celebrates the 1,000th edition of Opening Statement. Although there have been occasional pinch-hitters, the overwhelming majority of those morning newsletters were compiled by Andrew Cohen. This seems like a suitable occasion for a peek behind the curtain. Here’s a Q&A with the editor.

The Marshall Project: First, introduce yourself to readers who only know you as the maestro of Opening Statement. Who are you?

: I have been for nearly 25 years a journalist. I am a recovering lawyer who began as a legal consultant and columnist in. My next was the Clinton impeachment. I covered the law as CBS News’ legal analyst for two decades, was at 60 Minutes as its first legal analyst for five years and have written extensively on criminal justice for the past decade or so for The Atlantic and other outlets. Before I became a litigator I was a student journalist at Boston University.

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