Where One Sits Affects Where Others Stand: Bias, the Bar, and Nominees to Federal District Courts

Abstract

The American Bar Association\u27s Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary has evaluated potential federal judges since the 1950s. Here, we compare nominations to the circuit and district courts and find clear differences in how these two groups of nominees are evaluated the ABA. We propose these differences are a function of the lesser policymaking role and greater institutional constraints of district court judges, and the differences between trial and appellate court judges lead the ABA to favor different types of qualifications when evaluating nominees to these two types of courts