Ancillary Resources – Circuit Courts Data

This page compiles resources that supplement the main dataset. On this page, we also link to other resources that are helpful for data coding purposes or for research on the Circuit Courts of Appeals.

Codebooks for Datasets

Main Codebook (created for coding Phase Three 2003-2010)
Codebook Appendix: Detailed Case Types
Codebook Appendix: Judge Codes (large file: 2.5 MB)

Sample Weights for Observations

Sample weights for circuit-years 1925-2010 (csv format) (dta format)

Some circuits are larger than other circuits and publish more cases. Because the Circuit Courts dataset samples 30 case per circuit-year, an opinion from a large, prolific circuit is less likely to be randomly sampled than an opinion from a smaller circuit is. For some analyses, it may be useful to apply weights to calculate nationally-representative statistics; analyzing unweighted observations may give smaller circuits disproportionate influence.

Data on Circuit Court Judges

FJC Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789-present
Dataset on Circuits’ Chief Judges (csv format) (dta format)
Calculate Ideal Points of Federal Judges
Judge Identification “Code Bridge”: Matches FJC and Songer ID Codes (csv format) (dta format)

Randomized Case Lists by Circuit Year (2013-2016)

These are complete lists of all published opinions by circuit-year. The opinions are listed in random order. These lists are used to create random samples of 30 cases per circuit-year. The first 30 cases listed appear in the sample, except where one or more of these cases was excluded (e.g. opinion withdrawn) and 31st, 32nd, etc. case used in sample. These case lists also used for calculating sample-weights that may be applied to observations for certain analyses.

Randomized Case Lists by Circuit Year (2011-2012)

See note above regarding case lists for 2013-2016.

Randomized Case Lists by Circuit Year (2003-2010)

See note above regarding case lists for 2013-2016.