Judicial
Federal Judicial
We cover the highest three levels of Federal Court: United States Supreme Court, United States Appeals Courts (Circuit Court) and United States District Courts (USDC)- http://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/federal-courts-public/court-website-links - Links to each Federal Court - Great resource for roster checks and research sweeps.
- http://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/court-role-and-structure - Information on each court and the court system as a whole.
United States Supreme Court
Highest court in the country and, therefore, widely followed and easy to keep track of. Due to this, we keep up with any changes on a rolling basis, but our typical updates occur:
Roster Check: Every 6 months
Address Check: Once per Year
Bio Sweep: Once per Year
United States Appeals Courts (Circuit Court)
There are 13 appellate courts that sit below the U.S. Supreme Court--they are called the U.S. Courts of Appeals. This is the 2nd highest level in the Federal Court system. The appellate court’s task is to determine whether or not the law was applied correctly in the U.S. District Courts. Appeals courts consist of three judges for each of the 13 courts and do not use a jury. Besides any changes on a rolling basis, we also perform the following:
Roster Check: Every 6 Months
Address Check: Once per Year
Bio Sweep: Once per Year
United States District Courts (USDC)
The nation’s 94 district or trial courts are called U.S. District Courts. These are the 3rd highest level in the Federal Court system. They resolve disputes by determining the facts and applying legal principles to decide who is right. There are 870 Judgeships for this level of court, though they are rarely all filled. To make things a little easier, Ballotpedia tracks how may of these positions are currently filled: https://ballotpedia.org/The_Federal_Vacancy_Count_9/27/2017
Frequency Updates:
Roster Check: Every 6 Months
Address Check: Once per Year
Bio Sweep: Once per Year
State Judicial
We cover the highest court (the court of last resort) in each state for both candidates and officials. For the majority of states, this is the Supreme Court. However, there are some states that have a different highest court.Supreme Court
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, United States of America
Supreme Judicial Court
Maine, Massachusetts
- Note: In Admin, there is no difference between this and Supreme Court - meaning the name is Justice/Judge of the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Appeals
West Virginia
- Note: In Admin, there is no difference between this and Supreme Court - meaning the name is Justice/Judge of the Supreme Court
Court of Appeals (Appellate Court)
Maryland, New York
Two Courts of Last Resort
Oklahoma, Texas
- Note: Supreme Court is last resort for civil/Constitution matters; Criminal Appeals is last resort for criminal matters
Please see the Professional Experience wiki page for how to format judicial positions within a bio.
Elections: Generally, they get treated the same as any other candidate (if they are up for retention election we just list them as if they are unopposed). It is just harder to find out who the candidates are, and because of the extreme variation from state to state in how the elections are structured, we always want to refer to that state's laws.
- National Center for State Courts provides an excellent state-by-state chart of State Judicial term ends, term length, whether or not an election is held, and if the election is retention. For more details by state, see here. Their list of current officials will help you cull out some seats up for election this year (note: in some states, there is no popular election- this is decided by the legislature, governor, etc.)
- Ballotpedia Good for tracking USDC nominations.
- Senate Judiciary Committee Also good for tracking USDC nominations.
- as always, the elections office in each state should, theoretically include these candidates on a list somewhere- though sometimes you may have to call
Enhance Judicial Content:
- Information About Justices Per State <-- outdated website
