(WASHINGTON, D.C.)  Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has made available free of charge on its Internet site the financial records of all federal judges.

As part of a new judicial monitoring project, Judicial Watch has made available free to the public financial disclosure reports that must be filed by federal officeholders under the 1978 Ethics in Government Act.  Initially, Judicial Watch has placed on its site – the 2003 records for the U.S. Supreme Court justices and the active judges of the U.S. Courts of Appeals.  In early 2005, the reports for all federal District Court judges – about 950 reports – will be posted.  The reports, which include information on noninvestment income, gifts, liabilities, investments and trusts and positions held outside of the federal government, will be organized by federal circuit.

Federal judges are required to file financial disclosure reports with the Judicial Conference of the United States, the federal judiciary’s principal policy-making body.  Judges must file the reports when they are nominated, each year thereafter and when they retire.  The reports are due to the Judicial Conference by May 15 of the year following the one they cover.  (Calendar year 2004 information must be filed by May 15, 2005.)

Although the Judicial Conference makes the information available to the public, according to a recent Government Accountability Office study, the judges’ reports can be obtained only after a formal request has been made, only on paper and only after lengthy delays.  In 2002, according to the GAO, it took an average of 90 days for requesters to receive reports.  There is a processing fee for the reports.

Judicial Watch expects to post the financial disclosure reports as soon as they are processed by the Judicial Conference.  Generally, reports should be available in June or July of each year, although some judges have filed their reports as late as August.

“We intend to become the repository of financial disclosure records for all Article III judges (those appointed under the Constitution by the president of the United States) and to publicize that anyone seeking financial disclosure information can obtain the data free of charge on our Internet site,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  “We believe posting these reports will help educate the public about, and increase understanding of, federal judicial operations.  The information also can serve as a tool to ensure that the federal judicial process is above reproach.”

To view the financial disclosure reports, click here.