Federal judges appointed by Donald Trump are more productive, influential and independent than their judicial colleagues, independent analysis has found.
New York University law professor Stephen Choi and University of Virginia law professor Mitu Gulati assessed 77 federal appellate judges—43 Trump appointees and 34 non-Trump appointees.
They found Trump appointees took nine out of the top 10 spots for productivity and also for influence.
In addition their study found the Trump-appointed judges also scored well for judicial independence, which Choi and Gulati defined as “a judge who is willing to deviate from other judges, and particularly so those closest to them in terms of political ideology.”
Gulati told legal commentator David Lat’s blog Original Jurisdiction that he and Choi were surprised by the results.
And Choi said: “I thought we would have found more bias—and it pointed out to me the value of having objective data.”