Overview
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.
The Committee 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 of the Standing Committee spends roughly hundreds of hours per year on a voluntary basis to provide this vital public service.