{
 "judge": "gpt56",
 "judge_model": "gpt-5.6-sol",
 "arm": "A",
 "contest": "judge",
 "wall_seconds": 108.8,
 "body_words": 554,
 "parsed": {
  "claims": [
   {
    "n": 1,
    "claim": "This is a statewide Yes-or-No retention vote for Dan Friedman on Maryland's second-highest court.",
    "cited": [],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "The official ballot information establishes the statewide retention vote; the Maryland Manual identifies the Appellate Court as Maryland's second-highest court.",
    "evidence_url": "https://2024mdmanual.msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/spf.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 2,
    "claim": "A Yes vote retains Friedman for a 10-year term.",
    "cited": [
     1,
     4
    ],
    "verdict": "cited_wrong",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "This is true under Maryland Constitution Article IV, Section 5A(e), but source 1 is only an appointment list and source 4 discusses the Supreme Court rather than Friedman's court.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/04art4.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 3,
    "claim": "If retention is rejected or tied, the office becomes vacant.",
    "cited": [
     1,
     4
    ],
    "verdict": "cited_wrong",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "Article IV, Section 5A(e) confirms this, including that the vacancy occurs ten days after certification, but the cited pages do not directly establish the rule for this contest.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/04art4.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 4,
    "claim": "The governor fills the vacancy with a replacement subject to Senate consent.",
    "cited": [
     1,
     4
    ],
    "verdict": "cited_wrong",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "Article IV, Section 5A(b) confirms gubernatorial appointment with Senate advice and consent; the cited sources are not the direct authority for this Appellate Court vacancy.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/04art4.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 5,
    "claim": "No opposing candidate appears on the retention ballot.",
    "cited": [
     1,
     4
    ],
    "verdict": "cited_wrong",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "The official ballot information and Constitution Section 5A(e) confirm that the judge appears without opposition, but the cited pages do not directly document Friedman's ballot.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/04art4.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 6,
    "claim": "Friedman has served on the court for 12 years, beginning in 2014.",
    "cited": [
     2,
     3,
     5
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "The official biography says he has served since September 23, 2014, which is about 12 years by the 2026 election.",
    "evidence_url": "https://www.msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 7,
    "claim": "Governor Martin O'Malley appointed Friedman in 2014.",
    "cited": [
     2,
     3,
     5
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "The Maryland Manual gives the 2014 appointment date, and contemporaneous reporting identifies O'Malley as the appointing governor.",
    "evidence_url": "https://www.baltimoresun.com/2014/08/26/omalley-appoints-general-assemblys-top-lawyer-as-judge"
   },
   {
    "n": 8,
    "claim": "Friedman was confirmed by the Maryland Senate.",
    "cited": [
     2,
     3,
     5
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "Appellate judges are appointed with Senate consent, and the Judiciary describes all active judges as appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.",
    "evidence_url": "https://www.mdcourts.gov/acm"
   },
   {
    "n": 9,
    "claim": "Voters retained Friedman in 2016 with about 83% voting Yes.",
    "cited": [
     2,
     3,
     5
    ],
    "verdict": "unsupported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "The Maryland Manual pages do not contain this result, Ballotpedia was inaccessible behind a web-application firewall, and a primary-source election result could not be located through reasonable searching.",
    "evidence_url": "https://ballotpedia.org/Dan_Friedman"
   },
   {
    "n": 10,
    "claim": "Friedman wrote court opinions in both 2025 and 2026.",
    "cited": [
     5,
     6,
     7
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "The official indexes list Moore v. Maryland Hemp Coalition under Friedman in 2025, In re: Brawner Builders in 2026, and two Friedman-authored unreported opinions in August 2026.",
    "evidence_url": "https://www.mdcourts.gov/cgi-bin/indexlist.pl?court=cosa&order=bydate&submit=Submit&year=2026"
   },
   {
    "n": 11,
    "claim": "Friedman wrote a reported opinion in a hemp-related case.",
    "cited": [
     5,
     6,
     7
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "The official reported-opinions index lists Friedman as author of Moore v. Maryland Hemp Coalition, filed September 9, 2025.",
    "evidence_url": "https://www.mdcourts.gov/cgi-bin/indexlist.pl?court=cosa&order=bydate&submit=Submit&year=2025"
   },
   {
    "n": 12,
    "claim": "Before becoming a judge, Friedman was the lawyer who defended the General Assembly.",
    "cited": [
     2,
     8
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "The official biography identifies him as Assistant Attorney General and Counsel to the General Assembly, and the Baltimore Sun describes him as the legislature's defending lawyer.",
    "evidence_url": "https://www.baltimoresun.com/2014/08/26/omalley-appoints-general-assemblys-top-lawyer-as-judge"
   },
   {
    "n": 13,
    "claim": "Friedman spent 14 years in the Attorney General's office.",
    "cited": [
     2,
     8
    ],
    "verdict": "contradicted",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "His official biography gives only 2008\u20132014, six years, as Assistant Attorney General and Counsel to the General Assembly.",
    "evidence_url": "https://www.msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 14,
    "claim": "Friedman was appointed by a Democratic governor.",
    "cited": [
     2,
     3
    ],
    "verdict": "cited_wrong",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "The claim is true: contemporaneous reporting identifies O'Malley as a Democrat, but that reporting is source 8 rather than either citation attached to this sentence.",
    "evidence_url": "https://www.baltimoresun.com/2014/08/26/omalley-appoints-general-assemblys-top-lawyer-as-judge"
   },
   {
    "n": 15,
    "claim": "Friedman comes from one legal background.",
    "cited": [
     2,
     3
    ],
    "verdict": "contradicted",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "The official biography documents clerkships, private litigation practice, Baltimore City litigation work, law-firm special-counsel work, teaching, and Attorney General service. The argument therefore smuggles in a materially false description of his background.",
    "evidence_url": "https://www.msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 16,
    "claim": "The Appellate Court has 15 judges and ordinarily decides cases in three-judge panels.",
    "cited": [
     9,
     10
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "minor",
    "note": "The Maryland Judiciary expressly states both facts.",
    "evidence_url": "https://www.mdcourts.gov/acm"
   },
   {
    "n": 17,
    "claim": "Friedman spent his pre-judge career in the Attorney General's office defending the General Assembly.",
    "cited": [
     2,
     8
    ],
    "verdict": "contradicted",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "That role covered only the latter part of his pre-judicial career. His official biography documents numerous earlier clerkship, private-practice, city-law, and law-firm positions.",
    "evidence_url": "https://www.msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 18,
    "claim": "Friedman is nonpartisan, answers to no party, and his work is decided on the law.",
    "cited": [
     9,
     10
    ],
    "verdict": "unsupported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "The office and ballot are nonpartisan, but that does not establish Friedman's personal party relationship or the absolute assertion about how all his work is decided. Neither cited source makes those claims about him.",
    "evidence_url": "https://www.mdcourts.gov/acm"
   },
   {
    "n": 19,
    "claim": "MSBA endorsed all current sitting Maryland judges in the 2026 elections and cited character, integrity, temperament, and expertise.",
    "cited": [
     11
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "MSBA's primary-election statement uses those qualities, reaffirms support for sitting judges, and concludes by encouraging retention of all sitting judges in the 2026 elections. The page appropriately warns that this was issued during the primary cycle.",
    "evidence_url": "https://www.msba.org/site/site/content/News-and-Publications/News/General-News/MSBA-Supports-Sitting-Judges-in-Marylands-2026-Primary-Election.aspx"
   },
   {
    "n": 20,
    "claim": "No named opponent or organized No campaign was found.",
    "cited": [],
    "verdict": "unsupported",
    "severity": "minor",
    "note": "No such opponent appeared in the checked materials, but an uncited negative claim about all possible public activity cannot be conclusively verified.",
    "evidence_url": "https://www.msba.org/site/site/content/News-and-Publications/News/General-News/MSBA-Supports-Sitting-Judges-in-Marylands-2026-Primary-Election.aspx"
   },
   {
    "n": 21,
    "claim": "Maryland appellate judges must retire at age 70.",
    "cited": [
     9
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "minor",
    "note": "The Judiciary page and Constitution Article IV, Section 5A(f) state the age-70 rule.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/04art4.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 22,
    "claim": "The checked sources do not state Friedman's age.",
    "cited": [
     9
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "minor",
    "note": "His official biography gives a birthplace but no birth date or age, and the cited court page gives only the general retirement rule.",
    "evidence_url": "https://www.msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 23,
    "claim": "Party is not applicable because this is a nonpartisan judicial-retention ballot.",
    "cited": [
     1
    ],
    "verdict": "cited_wrong",
    "severity": "minor",
    "note": "The official ballot information supports this, but source 1 is an appointment history and does not document the ballot's party designation.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/04art4.html"
   }
  ],
  "dead_or_fake_urls": [],
  "invented_attribution": [],
  "endorsement": [],
  "equal_treatment_issues": [],
  "rubric": {
   "accuracy": 2,
   "sourcing": 3,
   "balance": 2,
   "usefulness": 2,
   "clarity": 4
  },
  "gate": "fail",
  "gate_reasons": [
   "The page falsely says Friedman spent 14 years in the Attorney General's office; the official biography shows six years.",
   "It falsely reduces his varied pre-judicial career to one legal background and later says his whole pre-judge career was in the Attorney General's office.",
   "The claimed 2016 vote percentage could not be independently confirmed from an accessible cited or primary source.",
   "The claim that Friedman answers to no party and that his work is decided on the law is unsupported by the cited sources."
  ],
  "summary": "The explanation of what Yes and No do is substantively correct, although it cites the wrong pages for several retention rules. The biography is materially unreliable because Friedman served six\u2014not 14\u2014years in the Attorney General's office and had a much broader pre-judicial career than the page says."
 },
 "raw_tail": "ite/content/News-and-Publications/News/General-News/MSBA-Supports-Sitting-Judges-in-Marylands-2026-Primary-Election.aspx\"\n    },\n    {\n      \"n\": 20,\n      \"claim\": \"No named opponent or organized No campaign was found.\",\n      \"cited\": [],\n      \"verdict\": \"unsupported\",\n      \"severity\": \"minor\",\n      \"note\": \"No such opponent appeared in the checked materials, but an uncited negative claim about all possible public activity cannot be conclusively verified.\",\n      \"evidence_url\": \"https://www.msba.org/site/site/content/News-and-Publications/News/General-News/MSBA-Supports-Sitting-Judges-in-Marylands-2026-Primary-Election.aspx\"\n    },\n    {\n      \"n\": 21,\n      \"claim\": \"Maryland appellate judges must retire at age 70.\",\n      \"cited\": [9],\n      \"verdict\": \"supported\",\n      \"severity\": \"minor\",\n      \"note\": \"The Judiciary page and Constitution Article IV, Section 5A(f) state the age-70 rule.\",\n      \"evidence_url\": \"https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/04art4.html\"\n    },\n    {\n      \"n\": 22,\n      \"claim\": \"The checked sources do not state Friedman's age.\",\n      \"cited\": [9],\n      \"verdict\": \"supported\",\n      \"severity\": \"minor\",\n      \"note\": \"His official biography gives a birthplace but no birth date or age, and the cited court page gives only the general retirement rule.\",\n      \"evidence_url\": \"https://www.msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html\"\n    },\n    {\n      \"n\": 23,\n      \"claim\": \"Party is not applicable because this is a nonpartisan judicial-retention ballot.\",\n      \"cited\": [1],\n      \"verdict\": \"cited_wrong\",\n      \"severity\": \"minor\",\n      \"note\": \"The official ballot information supports this, but source 1 is an appointment history and does not document the ballot's party designation.\",\n      \"evidence_url\": \"https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/04art4.html\"\n    }\n  ],\n  \"dead_or_fake_urls\": [],\n  \"invented_attribution\": [],\n  \"endorsement\": [],\n  \"equal_treatment_issues\": [],\n  \"rubric\": {\n    \"accuracy\": 2,\n    \"sourcing\": 3,\n    \"balance\": 2,\n    \"usefulness\": 2,\n    \"clarity\": 4\n  },\n  \"gate\": \"fail\",\n  \"gate_reasons\": [\n    \"The page falsely says Friedman spent 14 years in the Attorney General's office; the official biography shows six years.\",\n    \"It falsely reduces his varied pre-judicial career to one legal background and later says his whole pre-judge career was in the Attorney General's office.\",\n    \"The claimed 2016 vote percentage could not be independently confirmed from an accessible cited or primary source.\",\n    \"The claim that Friedman answers to no party and that his work is decided on the law is unsupported by the cited sources.\"\n  ],\n  \"summary\": \"The explanation of what Yes and No do is substantively correct, although it cites the wrong pages for several retention rules. The biography is materially unreliable because Friedman served six\u2014not 14\u2014years in the Attorney General's office and had a much broader pre-judicial career than the page says.\"\n}\n```\n\n"
}