The power and influence of the federal judiciary has been widely discussed and understood. And while there have been a fair number of institutional studies of individual district courts or courts of appeal, there have been very few studies of the judiciary that emphasize the judges themselves. Although previous studies provide numerous statistical facts, they do not answer the two most important questions relating to the federal judiciary: who the judges are and what they do. Federal Judges Revealed considers approximately one hundred oral histories of Article Three judges, extracting the most ... More

The power and influence of the federal judiciary has been widely discussed and understood. And while there have been a fair number of institutional studies of individual district courts or courts of appeal, there have been very few studies of the judiciary that emphasize the judges themselves. Although previous studies provide numerous statistical facts, they do not answer the two most important questions relating to the federal judiciary: who the judges are and what they do. Federal Judges Revealed considers approximately one hundred oral histories of Article Three judges, extracting the most important information. The material is organized thematically so that practitioners can easily access professional areas of interest. Topics include “How judges write their opinions” and “What judges believe make a good lawyer”. The book considers the background of the judges through college, law school, military service, clerkships, practice lives, and their appointments to the federal bench. It allows the reader to evaluate Federal judges based on their own words without an intermediary.