Ballotpedia:Notable cases

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Project overview

The notable cases section is a key section that appears on both federal judge pages as well as federal court pages. Each of these particular areas requires styling specific to that page. This project page will outline style guidelines for both.

Goals of the project

1. Fix tense errors and add rulings to unfinished previous notable cases
2. Reformat "legacy error" notable cases on court and judge pages
3. Fix "legacy error" notable case pages which highlight major cases in U.S. history
4. Have a significant group of notable cases for every federal court. This will include current news cases as well as major historical cases. For the purposes of preliminary goal, 5 will be considered a significant number. However, over time this number should increase.
5. To cover all major court cases hitting the news, including sections on both judge's pages and court pages.
6. To continue to expand into major historical cases over time.

Tools for first two steps

In order to catch and correct errors, a set of Article Improvement Tags have been created for this project. If you see a court or judge page which needs updating, please add the appropriate tag.

Tracking progress

If you are interested in keeping a list of notable cases which have been completed, copy and paste the following DPL onto a sandbox page and replace "District" with the district on which you are working. It will generate a list of judges and their "Notable cases" subheadings.

<dpl>
category = Federal judge, District|Judge on senior status, District|Former federal judge, District|Magistrate judge, District|Former magistrate judge, District
ordermethod = firstedit
include = #Notable cases,{reflist}
eliminate = all
resultsheader = This list contains %PAGES% judges. If this number is over 500 you need to break the DPL up into pieces.__NOTOC__
</dpl>

Writing guidelines

Template

For all court pages, the following template will be used to format the necessary information. This format will create a show hide chart to reduce the information displayed on the court page. Most of the information required by this template is also required by the formatting for the judge's page. The template can be found at:

{{Notable case format}}

The code for the court formatting template looks like this:

{{Notable case format|Level = Court|Title = This is the article title (year)|Case Link = A link to the case|Case name = John Doe v. Jane Doe|Case number = US 54729-23-6832|Case status = closed|Judge = [[JUDGE]]|Court=FULL COURT NAME|Text = Text goes here with references.<ref>some stuff</ref>}}

And it will render like this:

• This is the article title (year)      Judge(s):Some Judge ([A link to the case John Doe v. Jane Doe], US 54729-23-6832)	Click for summary→
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Maecenas eu venenatis nibh. Sed euismod rhoncus orci, at interdum enim blandit sed. Vivamus felis turpis, facilisis ac rutrum at, pellentesque vel diam. Nullam eget sapien nibh, non ultricies augue. Cras mauris mauris, malesuada quis hendrerit nec, convallis vitae ligula. Nulla lacinia ullamcorper sem, a interdum risus luctus id. Quisque sapien dolor, commodo sed molestie sed, molestie ac lorem. Duis tristique turpis sit amet mi pellentesque id sodales nunc consectetur. Etiam pellentesque varius eros eget fermentum. Maecenas nec convallis tellus. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec sed nulla ac nisi pretium sollicitudin ut sed lacus. In molestie vulputate massa feugiat porta. Donec congue accumsan velit, posuere pharetra nunc aliquam eget. Nunc sollicitudin purus sed tellus vehicula vitae dictum diam elementum. Suspendisse suscipit nibh nec tellus pharetra venenatis. Phasellus at sapien velit, eget interdum ipsum. Aliquam libero justo, blandit eu feugiat at, aliquam sit amet lectus. Suspendisse ut enim sed quam imperdiet facilisis a eu augue. Quisque sed justo mi. Cras pulvinar suscipit molestie.

Note: If a case has not been resolved, add {{FCP news update}} to the top of the specific case's section.

Judge pages

Due to the decreased size of judge pages and decreased amount of information available, the judge pages will display the full text of a case but provide the option to hide the information.

The code for the court formatting template looks like this:

{{Notable case format|Level = Judge|Title = This is the article title|Case Link = A link to the case|Case name = John Doe v. Jane Doe|Case number = US 54729-23-6832|Case status = closed|Judge=Some Judge|Court=Some Court|Text = Text goes here with references.<ref>some stuff</ref>}}

Note that the only significant change is the "Level=" class.

And it will render like this:

This is the article title

See also: Some Court ([A link to the case John Doe v. Jane Doe], US 54729-23-6832)

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Maecenas eu venenatis nibh. Sed euismod rhoncus orci, at interdum enim blandit sed. Vivamus felis turpis, facilisis ac rutrum at, pellentesque vel diam. Nullam eget sapien nibh, non ultricies augue. Cras mauris mauris, malesuada quis hendrerit nec, convallis vitae ligula. Nulla lacinia ullamcorper sem, a interdum risus luctus id. Quisque sapien dolor, commodo sed molestie sed, molestie ac lorem. Duis tristique turpis sit amet mi pellentesque id sodales nunc consectetur. Etiam pellentesque varius eros eget fermentum. Maecenas nec convallis tellus.

Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec sed nulla ac nisi pretium sollicitudin ut sed lacus. In molestie vulputate massa feugiat porta. Donec congue accumsan velit, posuere pharetra nunc aliquam eget. Nunc sollicitudin purus sed tellus vehicula vitae dictum diam elementum. Suspendisse suscipit nibh nec tellus pharetra venenatis. Phasellus at sapien velit, eget interdum ipsum. Aliquam libero justo, blandit eu feugiat at, aliquam sit amet lectus. Suspendisse ut enim sed quam imperdiet facilisis a eu augue. Quisque sed justo mi. Cras pulvinar suscipit molestie.

Note: If a case has not been resolved, add {{FCP news update}} to the top of the specific case's section.

Progress

Project progress on court pages

The goal of the first phase is to update formatting errors on the court and judge pages.

The next step is to update tense errors on the pages.

The last phase of this project is to add five cases to each court page, and at least one case to each judge page.

Supreme Court

Court	Formatting errors on court page fixed	Tense errors are eradicated on court page	5 cases on each court page	1 case on each justice's page
Supreme Court of the United States

Court of Appeals

Court	Formatting errors on court page fixed	Tense errors are eradicated on court page	5 cases on each court page	1 case on each judge's page
First Circuit	A	A	3/5	3/6
Second Circuit	A	A	11/5	9/13 - AITs added
Third Circuit	A	A	0/5	5/12
Fourth Circuit	A	A	0/5	0/15
Fifth Circuit	A	A	2/5	3/15
Sixth Circuit	A	A	0/5	1/15
Seventh Circuit	A	A	0/5	6/10
Eighth Circuit	A	A	3/5	1/11
Ninth Circuit	A	A	4/5	10/27
Tenth Circuit	A	A	1/5	2/10
Eleventh Circuit	A	A	1/5	0/10
District of Columbia Circuit	A	A	0/5	0/8
Federal Circuit	A	A	0/5	0/11

District Courts

Courts of the First Circuit

Court	Formatting errors on court page fixed	Tense errors are eradicated on court page	5 cases on each court page	1 case on each judge's page
District of Maine	A	A	2/5	1/3
District of Massachusetts	A	A	9/5 - A	3/13
District of New Hampshire	A	A	4/5	1/3
District of Puerto Rico	A	A	2/5	0/6
District of Rhode Island	A	Added AIT	4/5	1/3

Courts of the Second Circuit

Court	Formatting errors on court page fixed	Tense errors are eradicated on court page	5 cases on each court page	1 case on each judge's page
District of Connecticut	A	A	2/5	3/7
Eastern District of New York	A	A	7/5 - A	3/15 - AIT on page
Northern District of New York	A	A	2/5	1/4
Southern District of New York	A	A	30/5 - A	12/25
Western District of New York	A	A	1/5	0/4
District of Vermont	A	A	3/5	1/2

Courts of the Third Circuit

Court	Formatting errors on court page fixed	Tense errors are eradicated on court page	5 cases on each court page	1 case on each judge's page
District of Delaware	A	A	2/5	2/4
District of New Jersey	A	A	1/5	4/17 - Added AIT
Eastern District of Pennsylvania	A	A	0/5	1/18
Middle District of Pennsylvania	A	A	0/5	1/6
Western District of Pennsylvania	A	A	0/5	2/10

Courts of the Fourth Circuit

Court	Formatting errors on court page fixed	Tense errors are eradicated on court page	5 cases on each court page	1 case on each judge's page
District of Maryland	A	A	0/5	3/9
Eastern District of North Carolina	A	A	1/5	1/3
Middle District of North Carolina	A	A	1/5	2/4
Western District of North Carolina	A	A	0/5	0/5
District of South Carolina	A	A	1/5	1/9
Eastern District of Virginia	A	A	1/5	2/11
Western District of Virginia	A	A	0/5	0/5
Northern District of West Virginia	A	A	0/5	0/3
Southern District of West Virginia	A	A	1/5	2/5 - AIT on page

Courts of the Fifth Circuit

Court	Formatting errors on court page fixed	Tense errors are eradicated on court page	5 cases on each court page	1 case on each judge's page
Eastern District of Louisiana	A	A	5/5 - A	7/12 - added AIT
Middle District of Louisiana	A	A	1/5	1/3
Western District of Louisiana	A	A	3/5	3/7
Northern District of Mississippi	A	A	0/5	0/2
Southern District of Mississippi	A	A	0/5	2/6
Eastern District of Texas	A	A	0/5	1/6
Northern District of Texas	A	A	0/5	2/11
Southern District of Texas	A	A	2/5	4/15
Western District of Texas	A	A	2/5	3/12

Courts in the Sixth Circuit

Court	Formatting errors on court page fixed	Tense errors are eradicated on court page	5 cases on each court page	1 case on each judge's page
Eastern District of Kentucky	A	A	0/5	0/5
Western District of Kentucky	A	A	2/5	1/2
Eastern District of Michigan	A	A	0/5	7/11 - Added AIT
Western District of Michigan	A	A	0/5	0/4
Northern District of Ohio	A	A	0/5	2/11
Southern District of Ohio	A	A	0/5	6/8
Eastern District of Tennessee	A	A	2/5	2/4
Middle District of Tennessee	A	A	3/5	3/4
Western District of Tennessee	A	A	0/5	1/5 - Added AIT

Courts of the Seventh Circuit

Court	Formatting errors on court page fixed	Tense errors are eradicated on court page	5 cases on each court page	1 case on each judge's page
Central District of Illinois	A	A	0/5	0/3
Northern District of Illinois	A	A	1/5	9/19
Southern District of Illinois	A	A	0/5	1/4
Northern District of Indiana	A	A	0/5	2/5 - Added AIT
Southern District of Indiana	A	A	1/5	2/5 - Added AIT
Eastern District of Wisconsin	A	A	0/5	4/4
Western District of Wisconsin	A	A	0/5	1/1 - Added AIT

Courts of the Eighth Circuit

Court	Formatting errors on court page fixed	Tense errors are eradicated on court page	5 cases on each court page	1 case on each judge's page
Eastern District of Arkansas	A	A	4/5	3/5
Western District of Arkansas	A	A	0/5	0/2
Northern District of Iowa	A	A	1/5	2/2
Southern District of Iowa	A	A	1/5	0/3
District of Minnesota	A	A	4/5	5/7
Eastern District of Missouri	A	A	1/5	1/8
Western District of Missouri	A	A	1/5	1/6
District of Nebraska	A	A	1/5	1/3
District of North Dakota	A	A	2/5	2/2
District of South Dakota	A	A	1/5	1/3

Courts of the Ninth Circuit

Court	Formatting errors on court page fixed	Tense errors are eradicated on court page	5 cases on each court page	1 case on each judge's page
District of Alaska	A	A	2/5	2/3
District of Arizona	A	A	9/5 - A	6/8 - Added AIT
Central District of California	A	A	17/5 - A	13/27
Eastern District of California	A	A	1/5	1/5
Northern District of California	A	AIT for case	13/5 - Added AIT	7/12
Southern District of California	A	A	2/5	3/12 - Added AIT
District of Hawaii	A	A	1/5	2/4
District of Idaho	A	A	4/5	2/2
District of Montana	A	A	1/5	0/1
District of Nevada	A	A	2/5	1/6
District of Oregon	A	A	2/5	1/6
Eastern District of Washington	A	A	0/0	0/3
Western District of Washington	A	A	5/5 - A	5/8

Courts of the Tenth Circuit

Court	Formatting errors on court page fixed	Tense errors are eradicated on court page	5 cases on each court page	1 case on each judge's page
District of Colorado	A	A	1/5	2/7
District of Kansas	A	A	3/5	2/5
District of New Mexico	A	A	2/5	2/7
Eastern District of Oklahoma	A	A	1/5	0/2
Northern District of Oklahoma	A	A	0/5	0/4
Western District of Oklahoma	A	A	1/5	1/6
District of Utah	A	A	1/5	1/5
District of Wyoming	A	A	0/5	0/3

Courts of the Eleventh Circuit

Court	Formatting errors on court page fixed	Tense errors are eradicated on court page	5 cases on each court page	1 case on each judge's page
Middle District of Alabama	A	A	1/5	1/3
Northern District of Alabama	A	A	3/5	2/7
Southern District of Alabama	A	A	1/5	1/3
Middle District of Florida	A	A	2/5	2/13
Northern District of Florida	A	A	1/5	1/3
Southern District of Florida	A	Added AIT	5/5	4/16
Middle District of Georgia	A	A	2/5	1/4
Northern District of Georgia	A	A	5/5 - A	4/8
Southern District of Georgia	A	A	1/5	1/3

District of Columbia Circuit

Court	Formatting errors on court page fixed	Tense errors are eradicated on court page	5 cases on each court page	1 case on each judge's page
United States District Court for the District of Columbia	A	A	2/5	9/14

Tips for editing notable cases

Tense errors

A notable case has a tense error if:

• a ruling would have been resolved years ago, but the case is still written in present tense
• any language in the section is in future tense, whether the case was decided or not
• a possible appeal of the ruling is mentioned.

Fixing tense errors

Tense errors threaten the credibility of Judgepedia, since users who come across them assume that the wiki is not regularly updated. For that reason, all tense errors need to be corrected.

The first step to correct a tense error involves research into the ruling. Find out:

what the judge ruled

if applicable, the sentence of the accused

if an appeal was filed. If so, to what court was the case appealed?

if the resolution is still pending or if the case is closed

In some instances, you will not be able to find any information on the case. If that occurs, email a link to the judge or court page with the name of the notable case to editor@ballotpedia.org.

If the ruling is accessible, edit the notable case section to reflect the outcome. In some instances, the notable case template will need to be added to the page. For a refresher on that template, see this page.

After the template has been added and the tense error fixed, remove the article improvement tag, {{case tense}}. One page has been removed from the list!

Article improvement tags

There are a significant number of pages which have Article Improvement Tags related to the Notable Cases project. For a list of pages which need updating, see: Judgepedia:WikiProject Federal Judiciary Notable Cases/Articles to improve.

Collaboration of the Month

In April 2013, this WikiProject was the basis of a Collaboration of the Month on the Federal Courts Project.