The Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary (FJC) of the American Bar Association evaluates the professional qualifications of all nominees to the Supreme Court of the United States, circuit courts of appeals, district courts (including territorial district courts) and the Court of International Trade. The Committee’s goal is to support and encourage the selection of the best-qualified persons for the federal judiciary. It restricts its evaluation to issues bearing on professional qualifications and does not consider a nominee's philosophy or ideology. The Committee's peer-review process is structured to achieve impartial evaluations of the integrity, professional competence and judicial temperament of nominees for the federal judiciary.
Committee Membership
The Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary consists of fifteen members - - two members from the Ninth Circuit, one member from each of the other twelve federal judicial circuits and one member-at-large. The members are appointed for staggered three-year terms by the President of the ABA based on their reputations for professional competence, integrity and devotion to public service. Each member contributes several hundred pro bono hours per year to this public service.
Backgrounder
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For more detailed information on the process by which the Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary rates each nominee, view our background booklet, "Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary: What It Is and How It Works," updated in 2007. |
Ratings
The Committee rates each nominee "Well Qualified," "Qualified" or "Not Qualified." While some nominees receive majority/minority ratings, the majority rating is the official rating of the Committee.
Ratings of judicial nominees are posted by Congressional session and are available for those nominated during the 101st Congress to the present. The rating chart for current nominees is updated regularly.
- View the 110th Congress
- View 101st Congress to the present.
Supreme Court Nominations
For Supreme Court nominations, click here for links to the Standing Committee's ratings, written statements submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee and other information from the 103rd Congress to the present.
Written Statements
From time to time, the Committee is asked by the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify at a nomination hearing. This primarily occurs whenever a Supreme Court nominee is being considered and in cases where the Committee has rated a nominee "Not Qualified."
- View Written Statements
Contact
ABA Staff Liaison: Denise A. Cardman
For press releases, statements and other information regarding the Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, please refer to ABA Media Relations federal judicial selection resources.
