About & Methods
Robe Record collects documented controversies involving federal judges in one searchable place, with links to the original records and reporting.
What we cover
- Judges of the U.S. Supreme Court, courts of appeals, district courts and the Court of International Trade, plus federal bankruptcy and magistrate judges.
- Sitting, senior and former judges, when the matter relates to their time on the bench.
- We don't currently cover state or local judges, administrative law judges or immigration judges.
Categories
| Category | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Judicial misconduct | Misconduct complaints and the decisions of judicial councils and the Judicial Conference: reprimands, suspensions, requests to resign. |
| Criminal charges | Arrests, charges, pleas and convictions. |
| Ethics and conflicts | Failures to recuse, financial conflicts, undisclosed relationships, gifts and disclosure problems. |
| Personal conduct | Harassment, abusive treatment of staff, and personal conduct that affects the court's work. |
| Reversed or rebuked | Rulings a higher court reversed or vacated with reasoning that criticizes the ruling itself, or where it reassigned the case. Routine reversals are not included. |
| Impeachment and Congress | Impeachment resolutions, hearings and votes. |
Status labels
| Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Reported | Someone has made an accusation or a news outlet has reported it. No official body has decided it. |
| Pending | A formal charge, complaint, investigation or appeal is open. |
| Finding | An official body has decided: a court ruling, a judicial council order, a conviction or a plea. |
| Resolved | The matter is closed. The judge left the bench, was removed, or the matter was dismissed. |
How entries are chosen and written
- Every entry links to at least one source. We prefer the official record: council orders, court opinions, charging documents and congressional records.
- Summaries are written in plain, neutral language. Claims are attributed to whoever made them ("police allege," "the council found").
- Allegations stay labeled as allegations until an official body decides them.
- When a matter is dismissed, reversed or resolved in the judge's favor, we update the entry promptly.
- The same standards apply to every judge, whichever president appointed them.
- We don't publish judges' home addresses, family members or personal contact details.
What this site is not
Entries summarize public records and news reporting. They are not findings by this site, and nothing here is legal advice. A listing doesn't mean a judge did anything wrong unless an official body has found that they did, and the status label says so.