{
 "judge": "sonnet",
 "judge_model": "claude-sonnet-5.5",
 "arm": "D",
 "contest": "judge",
 "wall_seconds": 45.9,
 "body_words": 470,
 "parsed": {
  "claims": [
   {
    "n": 1,
    "claim": "The court reviews appeals of lower-court decisions.",
    "cited": [
     1
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "minor",
    "note": "The Appellate Court of Maryland page covers appeals, briefs and records. It is the state's intermediate appellate court.",
    "evidence_url": "https://www.mdcourts.gov/acm"
   },
   {
    "n": 2,
    "claim": "Voters choose Yes or No on keeping Friedman, not between competing candidates.",
    "cited": [
     2
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "Art. IV \u00a75A(e): the judge's name appears on the ballot 'without opposition' and voters vote yes or no.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/04art4.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 3,
    "claim": "Friedman has been an at-large appellate judge since September 2014.",
    "cited": [
     3
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "Manual: At Large since Sept. 23, 2014. The court was called the Court of Special Appeals until Dec. 2022, which the page does not mention.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 4,
    "claim": "Friedman earned his law degree from the University of Maryland in 1994.",
    "cited": [
     3
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "minor",
    "note": "J.D. (with honors), University of Maryland School of Law, 1994.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 5,
    "claim": "He served as Baltimore's chief of litigation 2000\u20132002.",
    "cited": [
     3
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "minor",
    "note": "Associate City Solicitor and Chief of Litigation, Baltimore City Department of Law, 2000-02.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 6,
    "claim": "He was an assistant attorney general advising Maryland's legislature 2008\u20132014.",
    "cited": [
     3
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "minor",
    "note": "Assistant Attorney General and Counsel to General Assembly, 2008-14.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 7,
    "claim": "He has chaired the Rules Review Subcommittee of the Equal Justice Committee since 2020.",
    "cited": [
     3
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "minor",
    "note": "Manual: 'Chair, Rules Review Subcommittee of Equal Justice Committee, 2020-, Judicial Council.' The page says 'judiciary's', which is loosely worded but fine.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 8,
    "claim": "Yes approves a ten-year term, with mandatory retirement at age 70.",
    "cited": [
     2
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "\u00a75A(e) sets the ten-year term and \u00a75A(f) requires retirement at 70.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/04art4.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 9,
    "claim": "If retention is rejected or the vote ties, the seat becomes vacant ten days after certification of results.",
    "cited": [
     2
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "\u00a75A(e) says the same.",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/04art4.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 10,
    "claim": "After a vacancy, the governor appoints a replacement with Senate consent; voters do not choose the replacement on this ballot.",
    "cited": [
     2
    ],
    "verdict": "supported",
    "severity": "major",
    "note": "\u00a75A(a)-(b) covers vacancies caused by 'rejection by the voters' and gives the governor's appointment with Senate advice and consent. The appointee later faces a retention vote, which the page omits (minor).",
    "evidence_url": "https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/04art4.html"
   },
   {
    "n": 11,
    "claim": "The official candidate list identifies him under this office as 'Judicial'.",
    "cited": [
     2,
     4
    ],
    "verdict": "unsupported",
    "severity": "minor",
    "note": "I checked parts of the very long SBE list. Circuit judges are labeled 'Judicial', so it is plausible, but I did not see Friedman's entry. The ballot information describes him as non-partisan judicial retention. Citing [2] for this is odd.",
    "evidence_url": "https://elections.maryland.gov/elections/2026/General_candidates/2026_GG_statewide_candidatelist.html"
   }
  ],
  "dead_or_fake_urls": [],
  "invented_attribution": [],
  "endorsement": [],
  "equal_treatment_issues": [
   "Yes and No are handled evenly, and the page says plainly that there is no evidence of misconduct. The 'Fair treatment in court' matcher links the Equal Justice Committee role to the voter's priority, which is a stretch, though the page hedges it."
  ],
  "rubric": {
   "accuracy": 5,
   "sourcing": 4,
   "balance": 4,
   "usefulness": 3,
   "clarity": 5
  },
  "gate": "pass",
  "gate_reasons": [
   "All major claims are supported by the cited sources. There is no invented attribution, endorsement or dead URL."
  ],
  "summary": "This is a Yes/No vote on whether Judge Dan Friedman, an appellate judge since 2014, serves another ten-year term. If a majority votes No, or the vote ties, the seat opens and the governor appoints a replacement with Senate consent. The page's facts check out against the Maryland State Archives and the state Constitution."
 },
 "raw_tail": "html/msa16938.html\"},\n    {\"n\":7,\"claim\":\"He has chaired the Rules Review Subcommittee of the Equal Justice Committee since 2020.\",\"cited\":[3],\"verdict\":\"supported\",\"severity\":\"minor\",\"note\":\"Manual: 'Chair, Rules Review Subcommittee of Equal Justice Committee, 2020-, Judicial Council.' The page says 'judiciary's', which is loosely worded but fine.\",\"evidence_url\":\"https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/30sp/html/msa16938.html\"},\n    {\"n\":8,\"claim\":\"Yes approves a ten-year term, with mandatory retirement at age 70.\",\"cited\":[2],\"verdict\":\"supported\",\"severity\":\"major\",\"note\":\"\u00a75A(e) sets the ten-year term and \u00a75A(f) requires retirement at 70.\",\"evidence_url\":\"https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/04art4.html\"},\n    {\"n\":9,\"claim\":\"If retention is rejected or the vote ties, the seat becomes vacant ten days after certification of results.\",\"cited\":[2],\"verdict\":\"supported\",\"severity\":\"major\",\"note\":\"\u00a75A(e) says the same.\",\"evidence_url\":\"https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/04art4.html\"},\n    {\"n\":10,\"claim\":\"After a vacancy, the governor appoints a replacement with Senate consent; voters do not choose the replacement on this ballot.\",\"cited\":[2],\"verdict\":\"supported\",\"severity\":\"major\",\"note\":\"\u00a75A(a)-(b) covers vacancies caused by 'rejection by the voters' and gives the governor's appointment with Senate advice and consent. The appointee later faces a retention vote, which the page omits (minor).\",\"evidence_url\":\"https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/04art4.html\"},\n    {\"n\":11,\"claim\":\"The official candidate list identifies him under this office as 'Judicial'.\",\"cited\":[2,4],\"verdict\":\"unsupported\",\"severity\":\"minor\",\"note\":\"I checked parts of the very long SBE list. Circuit judges are labeled 'Judicial', so it is plausible, but I did not see Friedman's entry. The ballot information describes him as non-partisan judicial retention. Citing [2] for this is odd.\",\"evidence_url\":\"https://elections.maryland.gov/elections/2026/General_candidates/2026_GG_statewide_candidatelist.html\"}\n  ],\n  \"dead_or_fake_urls\": [],\n  \"invented_attribution\": [],\n  \"endorsement\": [],\n  \"equal_treatment_issues\": [\n    \"Yes and No are handled evenly, and the page says plainly that there is no evidence of misconduct. The 'Fair treatment in court' matcher links the Equal Justice Committee role to the voter's priority, which is a stretch, though the page hedges it.\"\n  ],\n  \"rubric\": {\"accuracy\":5,\"sourcing\":4,\"balance\":4,\"usefulness\":3,\"clarity\":5},\n  \"gate\": \"pass\",\n  \"gate_reasons\": [\"All major claims are supported by the cited sources. There is no invented attribution, endorsement or dead URL.\"],\n  \"summary\": \"This is a Yes/No vote on whether Judge Dan Friedman, an appellate judge since 2014, serves another ten-year term. If a majority votes No, or the vote ties, the seat opens and the governor appoints a replacement with Senate consent. The page's facts check out against the Maryland State Archives and the state Constitution.\"\n}\n```\n\n"
}