Methodology

Every number we publish should be traceable, and this page explains how the sausage gets made.

Where the data comes from

Court records. The litigation database is built from public federal docket records via CourtListener and the RECAP archive, supplemented by documents we purchase directly from PACER. Case pages link to the underlying dockets.

Baseline statistics. Historical filing baselines come from the Federal Judicial Center's Integrated Database, using plaintiff-assigned nature-of-suit codes. Those codes carry the same caveats the FJC itself publishes: they reflect what the filing party selected, not a court's characterization.

Supreme Court emergency docket. Emergency application counts are compiled from the Court's public orders and docket entries, cross-checked against academic tallies of prior administrations.

What counts as a "case against the administration"

A federal case in which the United States, an agency, or an official sued in an official capacity is a defendant, and the claims challenge an action of the current administration. Long-running matters that predate January 20, 2025 are tracked when current administration action is at issue; they are counted but excluded from "filed under this administration" date ranges, and we say so where it matters.

How outcomes are coded

Outcome events (TROs, preliminary injunctions, dismissals, appellate results) are coded from docket entries, then verified by consensus: a second, independent model re-derives each case's outcome facts from the same docket record, claims must be corroborated by the docket text itself, and win/loss calls are cross-checked against independent codings (including Just Security's litigation tracker). Cases where the sources agree are marked verified; disagreements are resolved by a human or excluded. We publish coverage alongside every outcome figure, for example "208 of 1,334 cases coded," rather than implying the numbers describe the full universe.

What we deliberately do not publish yet

TRO and PI grant rates. Our coding currently captures grants but not denials. A rate computed from grants alone would always read 100%, which is a construction error, not a statistic. The column ships when denial tracking does.
Any figure whose source rows we cannot produce on request.

Corrections

If a number is wrong, we say so in the next Scorecard and correct the archive copy. Paid subscribers can question any specific figure through the monthly subscriber form; selected questions and answers run in the Scorecard's Ask the Docket section.

Funding

This work is funded by readers through Substack subscriptions and one-time support. Subscription revenue pays for PACER fees, document archiving, and database infrastructure. No political organization, party, or campaign funds any part of it.