Jesse Wegman

Background

About Jesse Wegman

I'm a contributing opinion writer to The New York Times. From 2013 to 2025, I was a member of The New York Times Editorial Board, writing editorials on the Supreme Court and legal affairs. From 2012-2013 I was senior editor and then editorial operations manager at the Newsweek Daily Beast Company. In 2011-2012 I was the New York legal editor for Thomson Reuters. From 2010-2011 I was a Soros Justice Media Fellow, working on a book about jailhouse lawyers, or prisoners who teach themselves the law in order to represent themselves and other inmates. From 2007 to 2009, I was managing editor of The New York Observer, where I also edited the paper's restaurant and legal columns and wrote profiles, essays, and book reviews. I attended NYU School of Law starting in 2002, and after graduating in 2005 I clerked for the Hon. Gabriel W. Gorenstein in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Before law school I worked as a reporter, producer, writer and editor for National Public Radio programs including Living On Earth, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition. I covered local, national, and international environmental news, as well as features on music, politics, education, and sports.