{
 "judge": "gpt56",
 "judge_model": "gpt-5.6-sol",
 "arm": "B",
 "contest": "judge",
 "wall_seconds": 80.7,
 "body_words": 245,
 "parsed": {
  "claims": [
   {
    "n": 1,
    "claim": "The vote determines whether Dan Friedman continues serving on the Appellate Court of Maryland.",
    "cited": [],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "The official election page lists Friedman for continuance in office, and Article IV \u00a75A defines the vote as approval or rejection of retention.",
    "evidence_url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=c4&enactments=false&section=5A"
   },
   {
    "n": 2,
    "claim": "Friedman has served on the court since 2014.",
    "cited": [
     1
    ],
    "verdict": "cited_wrong",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "Source [1] only lists him on the 2026 ballot. A separate Maryland State Archives biography says he has served since September 23, 2014.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 3,
    "claim": "A Yes vote retains Friedman for a ten-year term.",
    "cited": [
     2
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "Article IV \u00a75A(e) expressly defines approval as retention for ten years.",
    "evidence_url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=c4&enactments=false&section=5A"
   },
   {
    "n": 4,
    "claim": "A No vote removes Friedman and vacates the office.",
    "cited": [
     2
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "Rejection means removal; the office becomes vacant ten days after certification of the election returns.",
    "evidence_url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=c4&enactments=false&section=5A"
   },
   {
    "n": 5,
    "claim": "Gov. Martin O'Malley appointed Friedman to the court in 2014.",
    "cited": [
     1
    ],
    "verdict": "cited_wrong",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "Source [1] does not discuss the appointment. Other reporting identifies O'Malley as the appointing governor and gives September 23, 2014, as the date.",
    "evidence_url": "https://bethesdabeacon.com/articles/dan-friedman-seeks-retention-on-maryland-appeals-court-mvfqajm1"
   },
   {
    "n": 6,
    "claim": "Friedman has served continuously since his 2014 appointment.",
    "cited": [
     1
    ],
    "verdict": "cited_wrong",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "The cited election-results page does not say this, but the current Maryland State Archives biography lists him as an at-large appellate judge since September 23, 2014.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 7,
    "claim": "Maryland appellate judges face a retention election after one year and every ten years thereafter.",
    "cited": [
     2
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "minor",
    "note": "More precisely, the election occurs at the next general election after one year has expired from the vacancy's occurrence, and at the next general election every ten years thereafter.",
    "evidence_url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=c4&enactments=false&section=5A"
   },
   {
    "n": 8,
    "claim": "Friedman has approximately 12 years of appellate-court experience as of October 2026.",
    "cited": [],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "His official biography dates his service from September 23, 2014.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 9,
    "claim": "Friedman has no recorded disciplinary actions.",
    "cited": [],
    "verdict": "unsupported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "No cited source establishes a clean disciplinary record, and a reasonable search did not locate an authoritative record sufficient to prove this absence claim.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 10,
    "claim": "Retention votes ensure judges are not removed for political reasons.",
    "cited": [],
    "verdict": "unsupported",
    "severity": "minor",
    "note": "The law permits voters to reject a judge but does not restrict voters' reasons or guarantee protection from politically motivated removal.",
    "evidence_url": "https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=c4&enactments=false&section=5A"
   },
   {
    "n": 11,
    "claim": "Retaining Friedman would maintain continuity in the court's decisions.",
    "cited": [],
    "verdict": "unsupported",
    "severity": "minor",
    "note": "Retention would preserve personnel continuity, but no source establishes that the court's decisions would remain continuous or unchanged.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 12,
    "claim": "Moms Votes Matter is a group led by Karen.",
    "cited": [
     1
    ],
    "verdict": "unsupported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "Source [1] does not mention this organization or an identifiable leader named Karen, and exact-name searches found no corroboration.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/42electg/html/2026/2026jud.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 13,
    "claim": "Moms Votes Matter endorsed Friedman's retention.",
    "cited": [
     1
    ],
    "verdict": "unsupported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "The cited official election page contains no endorsement, and no source showing that the alleged group made this statement was found.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/42electg/html/2026/2026jud.html"
   }
  ],
  "dead_or_fake_urls": [],
  "invented_attribution": [
   "Supporters: Moms Votes Matter, a group led by Karen, endorsed Friedman\u2019s retention [1]."
  ],
  "endorsement": [
   "Experience: FOR fits, because Friedman has served 12 years (since 2014) with no recorded disciplinary actions.",
   "Judicial independence: FOR fits, as retention votes ensure judges are not removed for political reasons.",
   "Court stability: FOR fits, as Friedman\u2019s retention would maintain continuity in the court\u2019s decisions."
  ],
  "equal_treatment_issues": [
   "Although this is a one-judge retention vote, the Yes and No options receive unequal treatment: the page supplies only pro-retention arguments and directs every priority toward FOR while offering no substantive case for No."
  ],
  "rubric": {
   "accuracy": 2,
   "sourcing": 2,
   "balance": 1,
   "usefulness": 1,
   "clarity": 4
  },
  "gate": "fail",
  "gate_reasons": [
   "Major unsupported claim about Friedman's disciplinary record.",
   "Major unsupported and invented endorsement attribution to Moms Votes Matter.",
   "The priority matcher repeatedly endorses a FOR vote."
  ],
  "summary": "A Yes vote retains Dan Friedman for ten years; a No vote removes him, with the vacancy taking effect ten days after certification. The page correctly describes those mechanics but fails because it invents an endorsement, cannot substantiate its disciplinary-record claim, and consistently steers readers toward Yes."
 },
 "raw_tail": " reject a judge but does not restrict voters' reasons or guarantee protection from politically motivated removal.\",\n      \"evidence_url\": \"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=c4&enactments=false&section=5A\"\n    },\n    {\n      \"n\": 11,\n      \"claim\": \"Retaining Friedman would maintain continuity in the court's decisions.\",\n      \"cited\": [],\n      \"verdict\": \"unsupported\",\n      \"severity\": \"minor\",\n      \"note\": \"Retention would preserve personnel continuity, but no source establishes that the court's decisions would remain continuous or unchanged.\",\n      \"evidence_url\": \"https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html\"\n    },\n    {\n      \"n\": 12,\n      \"claim\": \"Moms Votes Matter is a group led by Karen.\",\n      \"cited\": [1],\n      \"verdict\": \"unsupported\",\n      \"severity\": \"major\",\n      \"note\": \"Source [1] does not mention this organization or an identifiable leader named Karen, and exact-name searches found no corroboration.\",\n      \"evidence_url\": \"https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/42electg/html/2026/2026jud.html\"\n    },\n    {\n      \"n\": 13,\n      \"claim\": \"Moms Votes Matter endorsed Friedman's retention.\",\n      \"cited\": [1],\n      \"verdict\": \"unsupported\",\n      \"severity\": \"major\",\n      \"note\": \"The cited official election page contains no endorsement, and no source showing that the alleged group made this statement was found.\",\n      \"evidence_url\": \"https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/42electg/html/2026/2026jud.html\"\n    }\n  ],\n  \"dead_or_fake_urls\": [],\n  \"invented_attribution\": [\n    \"Supporters: Moms Votes Matter, a group led by Karen, endorsed Friedman\u2019s retention [1].\"\n  ],\n  \"endorsement\": [\n    \"Experience: FOR fits, because Friedman has served 12 years (since 2014) with no recorded disciplinary actions.\",\n    \"Judicial independence: FOR fits, as retention votes ensure judges are not removed for political reasons.\",\n    \"Court stability: FOR fits, as Friedman\u2019s retention would maintain continuity in the court\u2019s decisions.\"\n  ],\n  \"equal_treatment_issues\": [\n    \"Although this is a one-judge retention vote, the Yes and No options receive unequal treatment: the page supplies only pro-retention arguments and directs every priority toward FOR while offering no substantive case for No.\"\n  ],\n  \"rubric\": {\n    \"accuracy\": 2,\n    \"sourcing\": 2,\n    \"balance\": 1,\n    \"usefulness\": 1,\n    \"clarity\": 4\n  },\n  \"gate\": \"fail\",\n  \"gate_reasons\": [\n    \"Major unsupported claim about Friedman's disciplinary record.\",\n    \"Major unsupported and invented endorsement attribution to Moms Votes Matter.\",\n    \"The priority matcher repeatedly endorses a FOR vote.\"\n  ],\n  \"summary\": \"A Yes vote retains Dan Friedman for ten years; a No vote removes him, with the vacancy taking effect ten days after certification. The page correctly describes those mechanics but fails because it invents an endorsement, cannot substantiate its disciplinary-record claim, and consistently steers readers toward Yes.\"\n}\n```\n\n"
}