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Codebook for USDC-APPEALS-JOP.csv

Ryan Hübert and Ryan Copus
Forthcoming in the Journal of Politics
Version Date: January 2021

This codebook describes the variables contained in the main district court dataset we analyze in the article. To create this dataset, we merged data from the FJC's Integrated Database (IDB) with original data we collected from docket sheets available in each district court's electronic databases.

We will not describe the FJC IDB variables in detail here, and instead refer readers to the comprehensive codebooks available at https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb. For the analysis in this article, we used data from three separate IDB datasets:

  1. The IDB Civil 1988-present database contains all civil cases filed in U.S. District Courts from 1988, and is available at https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb/interactive/IDB-civil-since-1988.
  2. The IDB Appeals 1971-2007 database contains all appeals filed in U.S. Courts of Appeals from 1971-2007, and is available at https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb/interactive/IDB-appeals-1971-2007.
  3. The IDB Appeals 2008-present database contains all appeals filed in U.S. Courts of Appeals from 2008, and is available at https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb/interactive/IDB-appeals-since-2008.

Since our analysis spans from the 1990s to the early 2010s, we merged the two IDB Appeals databases to cover our analysis time period. We preserved PDF copies of the FJC's codebooks for each of these datasets in this repository.

For additional details about the data collection and cleaning process, please see the article and the online appendix.

Variables Derived from FJC's IDB databases

Variables from the IDB Appeals database

  • YEAR A categorical variable indicating the year that each appeal was filed in the Ninth Circuit. Note that this variable Extracted from DKTDATE in the IDB Appeals database.
  • APPTYPE For a description, see the IDB Appeals codebook.
  • NOS For a description, see the IDB Appeals codebook.
  • JURIS For a description, see the IDB Appeals codebook.
  • USAPT For a description, see the IDB Appeals codebook.
  • USAPE For a description, see the IDB Appeals codebook.
  • DDIST For a description, see the IDB Appeals codebook.
  • DOFFICE For a description, see the IDB Appeals codebook.

Variables directly from the IDB Civil database

Note: we appended a "d" before these variables to indicate that they correspond to originating district court cases and were drawn from the FJC's FJC District Court Civil database.

  • dORIGIN For a description, see the IDB Civil codebook.
  • dSECTION For a description, see the IDB Civil codebook.
  • dJURY For a description, see the IDB Civil codebook.
  • dCOUNTY For a description, see the IDB Civil codebook.
  • dPROSE For a description, see the IDB Civil codebook.
  • dTRCLACT For a description, see the IDB Civil codebook.
  • dPROCPROG For a description, see the IDB Civil codebook.
  • dNOJ For a description, see the IDB Civil codebook.
  • dJUDGMENT For a description, see the IDB Civil codebook.
  • dDISP For a description, see the IDB Civil codebook.
  • dCLASSACT For a description, see the IDB Civil codebook.

Variables Derived from Case Docket Sheets

Appeal case variables

  • case_id A categorical variable with an (anonymized) unique ID for each appeal.
  • pro_defendant A dummy variable indicating whether the outcome of the appeal favored the defendant in the originating district court case.
  • CIRDIST A categorical variable indicating which "unit" of of the Ninth Circuit received the appeal. Values are north, middle or south. More details on the units of the Ninth Circuit can be viewed here: http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/uploads/rules/rules.htm.

District case variables

  • ftnoa ???
  • dtrmfee ???
  • dpltres ???
  • ddefres ???

Appeal panel variables

  • panel_anon A categorgical variable with an (anonymized) unique ID for each distinct three-judge panel presiding over cases.
  • maj_rep A dummy variable indicating whether the three-judge panel assigned to each appeal was comprised of a majority of Republican appointees.

District judge variables

Note: these variables correspond to the district judge assigned to the originating district court case.

  • djudge_race A categorical variable indicating the race of the district judge in the originating district court case.
  • djudge_gender A categorical variable indicating the gender of the district judge in the originating district court case.
  • djudge_party A categorical variable indicating the party of the appointing president of the district judge in the originating district court case.
  • djudge_birth_year A categorical variable indicating the birth year of the district judge in the originating district court case.
  • djudge_senior A dummy variable indicating whether the district judge in the originating district court case was a senior judge.
  • djudge_president A categorical variable indicating the appointing president of the district judge in the originating district court case.

Appealing litigant-related variables

  • aple_count An integer variable indicating the number of appellees listed on the appeal.
  • aplt_count An integer variable indicating the number of appellants listed on the appeal.
  • aple_att_count An integer variable indicating the number of attorneys representing the appellees listed on the appeal.
  • aplt_att_count An integer variable indicating the number of attorneys representing the appellants listed on the appeal.
  • aplt_deft A dummy variable indicating whether appellant(s) was the defendant in the originating district court case.
  • aplt_pltf A dummy variable indicating whether appellant(s) was the plaintiff in the originating district court case.
  • apltprose A dummy variable indicating whether appellant(s) was a pro se litigant.
  • apleprose A dummy variable indicating whether appellee(s) was a pro se litigant.
  • bothprose A dummy variable indicating whether both were pro se litigants.