This Times item online is generating some buzz today:

Want to Talk to Kagan's Family? Permission Denied

Lede [emphasis added]:

White Houses traditionally put a muzzle on their Supreme Court nominees, to keep them from saying anything that might jeopardize Senate confirmation. But the Obama White House has taken it one step further. It is limiting, if not blocking, access to the nominee's family.

But has the White House really taken it “one step further”? And is there anything unusual in play here? Readers aren't sure because the Times fails to address that issue and never reports on whether, during previous confirmation processes, family members of nominees were granting interviews with the press. I highly doubt it. (White Houses prefer to keep the entire process as scripted as possible.)

Were the phone numbers for family members of Samuel Alito and John Roberts, for instance, passed out by the Bush White House so reporters could fill out their profiles of those nominees? I suspect not. But again, the Times never tells readers what the precedent is.