As reflected in our prior coverage, we are strangely obsessed with Nina Totenberg, the distinguished legal affairs correspondent for NPR. She's the subject of our latest "Eyes of the Law" celebrity sighting.

Okay, seeing Nina Totenberg at the Supreme Court may not sound super-exciting. But bear with us. From a tipster:

[On Tuesday] I was sworn in as a member of the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court.... I was first in the row of seating. Six inches, literally, away from me were the desks of the press covering the case.

At about 9:54 AM, in comes a lady in an extremely bright orange suit, who takes her place in the press row directly facing me. She is now about six inches away from me, though I am facing forward, and she is facing my profile (she's pretty good-looking in person, actually).

Totenberg has an uncanny ability to enter the courtroom just in the nick of time. See here.

Anyway, the first case for argument was Davis v. FEC. Representing Davis was a dude named Andrew Herman (or something like that). [Ed. note: That's right; see Tony Mauro's report.]

I learned a bit more about him as, upon arrival and settling in, Nina leans over to her seatmate and says 'Andrew Herman must be scared s**tless. This is his first time arguing a case here.' Her seatmate must have murmured some sort of concurrence, at which point she says, 'He truly must be s****ing himself.'"

I suspect Ms. Totenberg was correct, as Mr. Herman's performance was nothing short of horrific. But who am I to judge -- I was just getting sworn in.

Not sure if it is newsworthy, but it made me chuckle to hear a lady whose voice I have listened to on the radio for the past fifteen years use such colorful language -- 15 feet from the bench.

A great story -- but is it accurate? We contacted Totenberg, who confirmed in part and denied in part:

Well, part of [this story] is true. I did not say, nor would I ever say: "s***ting himself." That is a truly disgusting expression. And my assumption is that anyone arguing for the first time must be pretty scared. But usually, though not always, a first appearance does not have a full gallery.

Maybe Totenberg described Herman as "scared witless" and "hitting himself"?

In any event, murmured profanity at One First Street is no big deal. Those justices have been around the block a time or two. But a bright orange suit? That may be another story.

New Yorker writer Jeffrey Toobin's exciting new book, The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, is being released tomorrow. But it's already provoking some interesting discussion in the blogosphere. See, e.g., this post by Professor Rick Garnett (esp. the comments).

And it's garnering some favorable reviews. The dean of the Supreme Court press corps, Nina Totenberg of NPR, has given The Nine her blessing.

How does The Nine compare to other recent books about the Supreme Court? Here is Totes's take:

Jeffrey Rosen's book about famous court personalities and rivalries is an interesting history packed into a professorial thesis. [A] biography of Justice Clarence Thomas by the Washington Post's Kevin Merida and Michael Fletcher is a credible, but limited, look at the justice. In addition, Thomas himself was paid a reported $1 million to write a book that is slated to come out this fall.

If you're interested in the Supreme Court as an institution and as a collection of personalities, though, Toobin's is the book to read.

Hey Nina, what about the book by that rather attractive lady reporter?

Supreme Conflict, by ABC's Jan Crawford Greenburg, contains a fair amount of good conservative gossip about the nomination of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, but it lacks the balance, substance, and context of Toobin's book.

Ouch. Jan, remember all those nice things you had to say about Nina? Care to take any of them back?

Toobin's 'The Nine' Reveals Politics of High Court [NPR]
"The Nine" [PrawfsBlawg]

Earlier: In Defense of Nina: Jan Crawford Greenburg

Up until this point, we had perhaps shaky evidence that Nina Totenberg, legal affairs correspondent for NPR, is a diva.

There was the (now closed) ATL reader poll, in which 30 percent of you declared La Totenberg to be a true diva. There were various stories of diva-like behavior. There was her recent, diva-licious appearance on NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, in which she gave Scooter Libby prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald a piece of her mind. (Click here, select "Not My Job: Patrick Fitzgerald," and skip ahead to the 7:30 mark.)

But now it's official: Nina Totenberg really IS a diva, narrowly defined as "[a] female opera star of great rank or pretension." Click here, and listen to her operatically trill the four finalists for a new "All Things Considered" jingle.

Although some of the notes in Nina's upper register sound a little thin, on the whole she's in fine voice. We're very impressed!

From one tipster: "Can I suggest a barbershop quartet, consisting of Nina Totenberg, Joan Biskupic, Jan Crawford Greenburg, and Linda Greenhouse?" Or maybe a sing-off between Nina Totenberg and Judge Marjorie Rendell (3d Cir.), another diva in the figurative and literal senses of the word?

Now if only we can get Nina Totenberg to sing Everyone's A Winner at Nixon Peabody...

Vote for 'All Things Considered' Theme Song Lyrics [NPR]
Not My Job: Patrick Fitzgerald (around 7:30 mark) [Wait Wait Don't Tell Me / NPR]

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Nina Totenberg (scroll down)

You know you're a celebrity when everyone has an opinion about you. And by that standard, Nina Totenberg, who covers the Supreme Court for NPR, is definitely a celebrity. Ever since we first started writing about Ms. Nina, we've received tons of messages and stories about her.

We feel like we're running confirmation hearings for La Totenberg -- or maybe hearings to decide whether she should be reappointed dean of the SCOTUS press corps. Witnesses have been coming forward with alternating positive and negative accounts.

Since our last post was decidedly anti-Nina -- excerpts from the memoir of John Hockenberry, a former NPR colleague of hers -- it's time for something positive. This message comes from one of Nina Totenberg's current colleagues, Ari Shapiro:

I interned for Nina seven years ago, and I’ve been her colleague at NPR ever since. I have to disagree with the assertion that she’ll “ruin the career of anyone who crosses her.” I think Tom Goldstein and Jan Crawford Greenburg got it exactly right. Nina has been unfailingly kind, generous, and helpful to me. Because I cover the Justice Department and she covers SCOTUS, we work together all the time. My cubicle is just outside of hers (yes, she has a cubicle – no office, no couch), so I see her nearly every day. She has been an extraordinary mentor and colleague, and she is always supportive. Having seen seven years’ worth of her interns come and go, I know that most of them feel the same way.

I do agree with you on one point, though. Nina is utterly fabulous. I’ve never met anyone like her, and I mean that in the best possible way.

We thank Mr. Shapiro for these thoughts.*

So, after reading all about her, what do you think of Nina Totenberg? Take our reader poll, after the jump.

Ever since our original request for colorful stories about the delicious Nina Totenberg, the doyenne (or maybe the dean?) of the Supreme Court press corps, we've experienced an avalanche of anecdotes about this larger-than-life legal journalist.

We still have a few reports in the queue. Here's the latest contribution:

Any discussion of Totenberg must include John Hockenberry's recountings of her diva-like attitude around the NPR newsroom. He writes about her in his well-known memoir, Moving Violations. Note that Hockenberry implies Totenberg will ruin the career of anyone who crosses her. [Ed. note: YIKES.]

Go to Amazon and search for "Totenberg" in the book, John Hockenberry, Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs, and Declarations of Independence. Starting around page 174, you'll read this...

If you haven't tired of reading about Ms. Nina -- we know we haven't, but everyone's different -- check out the rest of this post, after the jump.

Maybe you're tired of reading about NPR's Nina Totenberg and the tempest in a teapot over seating in the Supreme Court press gallery.

But we're not. So we'll continue to write about it, since ATL is our party, and we'll cry if we want to.

We have two new messages to pass along today. One is from a current member of the SCOTUS press, and the second is from a former member of that group.

If you're interested in this story, you can read the messages, after the jump.

In the wake of the quasi-scandal that the divine Dahlia Lithwick has dubbed Divagate, we've received several defenses of that legend of the Supreme Court press corps, NPR's Nina Totenberg.

We previously shared with you an email from Tom Goldstein, who once interned for Totenberg (just as Cate Edwards is doing this summer). Today we bring you celebrity correspondence from another SCOTUS superstar: Jan Crawford Greenburg!

Check out her message, which includes a detailed discussion of seating arrangements in the Supreme Court press gallery, after the jump.

We're loving this little dustup over our item about Nina Totenberg getting territorial over seating in the Supreme Court press gallery. It got us a shout-out in the Washington Post. And it's generating celebrity correspondence for us, too.

Over the weekend, we heard from SCOTUS bar superstar Tom Goldstein. And then, this morning, we received this email, from one of our favorite commentators on legal affairs:

From: Dahlia Lithwick
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 10:35 AM
To: David Lat
Subject: one bigger question raised in Divagate

The Wa Po article about Nina said she was "dean" of the Supreme Court press corps.

I have also heard that title applied to both Linda [Greenhouse] and Lyle [Denniston] at various times.

What the heck is that about?

Is it a real position? Is it tenured?

Good questions. It reminds us of "The Tenth Justice," a title that has been bestowed on everyone from the Solicitor General to ex-judge J. Michael Luttig to Howard Bashman (by Howard Bashman).

Also, can you run for this post of "dean"? If the SCOTUS press corps is like high school, is this like being class president? Or prom queen?

If so, we nominate Dahlia Lithwick. She's fabulous! How many Supreme Court correspondents have Facebook fan clubs?

(Linda Greenhouse, eat your (bleeding) heart out....)

Names & Faces: Totenberg's Courtside Seat [Washington Post]
A3G to President Bush: Pick Alito, Not Luttig [Underneath Their Robes]

Earlier: Why Is Nina Totenberg Like Judy Miller?

To balance out our recent tales of diva-licious behavior by a celebrated legal journalist, Nina Totenberg of NPR, here's an opposing viewpoint -- a "But see," if you will -- from Thomas Goldstein. Goldstein is a partner at Akin Gump, a top Supreme Court advocate, and founder of SCOTUSblog.

Tom Goldstein also knows Ms. Nina well, since he's a former intern for her and a longtime friend (see here). He writes:

I admit to being the world's biggest Nina partisan, except maybe for my daughter (Nina) and wife and sister (who also were interns). The diva reputation makes for good press but honestly isn't deserved; the seats in the press gallery are assigned.

Totes actually spends tons of time worrying about and caring for friends, including several who are recovering from cancer. She's a sweetheart.

We thank Tom Goldstein for his thoughts on La Totenberg -- but we're disappointed to hear them! There are precious few divas in this world. When you find a true diva, or even a potential one, you should hold on to her for as long as you can.

With respect to Goldstein's comments on the press gallery, that's true -- in part. The situation is actually a bit more complicated. If you're just DYING to know how seat assignments work for the SCOTUS press corps (and we know you are), we'll provide a detailed report in a subsequent post.

Names & Faces: Totenberg's Courtside Seat [Washington Post]

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Nina Totenberg (scroll down)

Our series of posts on that delicious legal diva, Nina Totenberg of NPR, has made the pages of the Washington Post:

A blog that labels itself a "legal tabloid" has been soliciting juicy anecdotes about NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg's on-the-job behavior, but Totenberg says she's just doing her job.

In a post on Above the Law authored by the blog's editor in chief, David Lat, one anecdote describes the correspondent entering the Supreme Court's press section moments before a morning session begins -- and asking someone sitting in the front row to surrender the seat.

Totenberg gets her way, it says, "because nobody says no to Nina."

But not so fast: Totenberg says that since she happens to be the dean of the Supreme Court press corps, she actually has an assigned seat -- that nice one, right up front.

Who knew the Supreme Court press gallery was just like a high school cafeteria? On first Mondays we wear pink!

Totenberg's complete comment, and our reaction, after the jump.

The interesting anecdotes about NPR's Nina Totenberg, the grande dame of the Supreme Court press corps, continue to fill our inbox. And just as in the case of Peter Barta, it's fascinating to see how little stories can come together, like pieces of a puzzle, to give you a more complete portrait of a person.

Anyway, here's the latest gossip about Ms. Nina, from a former neighbor:

True story. Nina Totenberg used to live [a few] blocks away from me on Capitol Hill.

A few years back, she put her house on the market and had an open house. The house was perfectly fine -- nothing particularly grand or tacky.

The one thing that stuck out, however, was that she left her nylons hanging to dry in the bathroom. Classy.

Très, très Britney. Not unlike loudly chewing gum during a Supreme Court argument.

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Nina Totenberg (scroll down)

We are still accepting your colorful anecdotes about Nina Totenberg, NPR's legendary Supreme Court correspondent, and a celebrity within legal and media circles. Past installments appear here and here.

Today we have two more stories to offer, both variations on a theme. Here's the first:

I really have to mention here a little semi-encounter I had with Totenberg during the day I covered the Scooter Libby trial. When I arrived, I sat down in a random spot -- and quickly discovered that Ms. Nina had apparently managed to convince all the journos covering the trial that a certain portion of the court bench was her personal property.

Sadly, the trial did not go on further. I really wanted to sit in her chair!

We're not surprised. It's completely consistent with our second story -- which you can check out, if you're interested, after the jump.

In our recent post about Nina Totenberg's poorly received graduation speech at Georgetown University Law Center, we solicited your anecdotes about her. La Nina is the Great Diva of the Supreme Court press corps, and colorful stories about her are legion.

We received a few submissions. Here's one to get the ball rolling:

My county bar colleagues and I got sworn in to the SCOTUS bar back in [the late 1990s]. It was a real thrill. We got to meet the Clerk of Court and had a private coffee-and-danish session with Justice Ginsburg.

The thrill of it was almost ruined by seeing Nina Totenberg chewing gum in court while a couple of decisions were handed down. We're talking chewing it like cud, Britney Spears style. I was not impressed.

And later that day, Totenberg was spotted driving down Constitution Avenue... with a baby in her lap!

We recognize, of course, that Nina Totenberg has many defenders and devoted fans -- groupies, even. After all, "[d]ue of extremely high demand," this NPR gift item -- the Nina Totin' Bag -- is out of stock:

Troubling. Deeply, deeply troubling.

Have a Nina Totenberg tale to tell? Send it to us by email (subject line: "Nina Totenberg"). Thanks.

The Nina Totin' Bag [NPR Shop]

Earlier: Worst Graduation Gift: Nina Totenberg as Your Commencement Speaker

We're nearing the end of graduation season. Sadly, we received hardly any responses to our request for examples of odious graduation gifts. This was the best one:

Worst graduation gift ever: My dad asking me why I only came second in my class and not first. And then no gifts!

If that's not a recipe for several years of therapy, we don't know what is.

Due to the lack of submissions, we have picked out our own worst graduation gift: Nina Totenberg as your graduation speaker.

Because Nina Totenberg, the distinguished legal affairs reporter for NPR, is one of the country's most celebrated journalists, one would expect graduates -- especially law school graduates -- to appreciate her as a speaker. But La Totenberg didn't win many fans with her recent Georgetown commencement address.

Here's a less-than-favorable review of her speech, from a 2007 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center:

I worked very hard, for an extended period of time, to graduate from law school. For better or worse, it represents one of the great achievements I will have in life. And her speech seemed as if she wrote it on the cab ride over from NPR.

I'm disappointed that Totenberg chose to be so lighthearted during what I feel is, for lack of a better word, a "solemn" occasion. It was so lighthearted that it wasn't even cogent! Ask me how I really feel, right?

I have heard nothing but negative reviews from [my classmates]....

(If you'd like to check it out for yourself, click here to access a webcast. Enjoy.)

Update: This commenter makes a good point. We've heard a number of tales about Nina Totenberg's diva-licious behavior -- and we'd love to hear more. Please send them to us by email, and perhaps we'll do a more detailed write-up on her. Thanks.

2007 Georgetown Law Center Commencement Ceremony [Georgetown University Law Center (webcast)]
Nina Totenberg bio [National Public Radio]

Earlier: Worst Graduation Gifts: Submissions, Please

Our favorite movie of all time is All About Eve (1950). It's the story of a brilliant but aging stage diva, Margo Channing (Bette Davis), and an aspiring actress, Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter). Margo befriends Eve, taking the star-struck youngster under her wing. But then the exceedingly ambitious Eve starts to threaten her mentor's reign as queen of the theater.

The small Supreme Court press corps can be compared to the clubby world of the theater. It's populated by distinguished veterans, like Tony Mauro, and emerging younger talents, like Dahlia Lithwick. (Expressed in Broadway terms, Mauro and Lithwick could be compared to, respectively, Christopher Plummer and Sutton Foster.)

The stage has its great divas -- e.g., Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera -- and so does the SCOTUS press corps. Nina Totenberg is certainly one of them. But the undoubted queen of Supreme Court correspondents is Linda Greenhouse, of the New York Times.

Greenhouse has been covering the Court for almost three decades, since 1978. She enjoys unmatched access to the justices, especially those in the middle and left wings of the Court. Supreme Court justices are notoriously media-shy. But Linda Greenhouse can magically reach them on their cell phones, at any hour, and get them to spill their deepest and darkest secrets. If you want to know whether there was blood in a justice's stool this morning, ask Linda G.

So here's our question:

If Linda Greenhouse is the Margo Channing of Supreme Court reporters, does that make Jan Crawford Greenburg into Eve Harrington?

Just like Eve Harrington, Jan Crawford Greenburg of ABC News is a talented and attractive young woman, whose star is on the rise. In the past three months, she has scored coveted in-person interviews with almost half of the Supreme Court:

(1) Chief Justice John Roberts, in Miami;

(2) Justices Antonin Scalia and Stephen Breyer, here in Washington; and

(3) earlier this week, Justice John Paul Stevens (his first network television interview ever).

For all of you non-journalist types, please understand: these are MAJOR COUPS.

And there's more. As Howard Bashman notes, later this month, Greenburg has a "top-secret" new book on the Court coming out. That book, Supreme Conflict, is being touted as drawing upon "unprecedented access to the Supreme Court justices and their inner circles."

(Note to Greenburg's book publicist: We'd love to get a reviewer's copy, if you wouldn't mind sending one our way.)

Call it Greenhouse v. Greenburg. Linda Greenhouse's historic domination of Supreme Court coverage is under siege, as Jan Crawford Greenburg makes some serious inroads at One First Street. And we're not the only ones who have taken notice. Check out Howard Bashman's great interview with La Greenburg, posted just this morning, in which he accurately describes the trajectory of her career as "meteoric."

We will surely piss off some people with this question, but we'll ask it anyway:

Could Greenburg's status as a hottie be contributing in any way, however small, to her journalistic success?

In All About Eve, you will recall, Eve Harrington uses her beauty and charm to seduce theatre critics, writers, and directors.*

Some of you might object: "This whole 'All About Jan' theory is ridiculous. Linda Greenhouse has been covering the Court since Jan Crawford Greenburg was in footsie pajamas. Do you really think LG is about to be supplanted as Empress by some upstart kid?"

We respond by quoting this exchange from All About Eve, between Margo Channing and her lover, Bill Sampson:

BILL: Darling, [to succeed in the theater,] you've got to keep your teeth sharp. All right. But you will not sharpen them on me --- or on Eve...

MARGO: What about her teeth? What about her fangs?

BILL: She hasn't cut them yet, and you know it!

But Jan Crawford Greenburg HAS sharpened her pearly whites (which we've admired up close). And she's ready to sink them into Linda Greenhouse.

* Rumor has it that back in the day, as a young and attractive reporter, Nina Totenberg was not averse to "workin' it." If you can confirm this rumor or shed more light on it, please drop us a line.

N.B. We are NOT suggesting that Nina Totenberg pulled The Full Judith Miller. We've simply heard that Totenberg, back when she was a youthful beauty, was highly skilled at deploying feminine charm in getting her sources to talk.

Update: This comment is one of the best compliments we have ever received in our entire life. Addison DeWitt is our idol. Thanks, Michael Doyle!

Interview of Jan Crawford Greenburg by Howard Bashman [How Appealing]
Jan Crawford Greenburg [NewsHour Extra: The Road Taken]
Linda Greenhouse bio [Wikipedia]
All About Eve [IMDb]
All About Eve screenplay [Screenplays for You]
Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court [Amazon]

This past Saturday, October 21, Washington superlawyer Ted Olson and his fiancee, Lady Booth, were married. The wedding ceremony took place at the stunningly beautiful Meadowood resort, in Napa Valley, California.

Olson, a giant of the Supreme Court bar, served as Solicitor General -- the federal government's top lawyer before the Supreme Court -- from 2001 to 2004. He's currently a partner in the elite D.C. office of top-flight firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Olson successfully litigated the landmark 2000 election case, Bush v. Gore, in the Supreme Court. On the losing side: renowned litigator David Boies. But presumably there were no hard feelings, since Boies showed up for the wedding festivities -- along with many other legal luminaries.

Some legal celebrity sightings, from the Washington Post's Reliable Source:

More than 300 guests attended the midafternoon ceremony on the golf course, including Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, former justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, legal commentators Victoria Toensing and Joe diGenova, NPR's Nina Totenberg, legal names such as Robert Bork, Kenneth Starr, David Boise [sic], and Olson's law partner Bill Kilberg. U.S. Appeals Court Judge Laurence Silberman performed the ceremony, and Wall Street Journal Publisher Gordon Crovitz served as best man.

This is Booth's first marriage and Olson's fourth. The couple will honeymoon in Hawaii.

We hear through the grapevine that the wedding was, not surprisingly, "a great time. It seemed like half of Washington was there!"

Other notable guests: Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, of the Fourth Circuit; Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain, of the Ninth Circuit, and his ever-stylish wife, Maura O'Scannlain; Frank Fahrenkopf, former RNC chairman and current gaming industry superlobbyist, with his wife, Mary; current Solicitor General Paul Clement; and conservative pundit Laura Ingraham.

Despite the tremendous collective brainpower of these august guests, we hear that several of them were left scratching their impressive craniums by one wedding detail: the request on the wedding invite for "Napa Casual" attire.

These leading minds of the bench and bar can slice, dice, define and parse the most complex legal terms known to man. But throw two innocent little words at them -- "Napa Casual" -- and watch them panic.

If only every day could be a court day. Who doesn't look good in black?

Update: You can check out photographs from the wedding by clicking here.

Napa Nuptials for Olson and His Lady [Washington Post]
Theodore B. Olson, Solicitor General bio [USDOJ.gov]
Theodore Olson [Wikipedia]