The judges and practitioners of the Federal Circuit have long labored under the image of the nerds of the federal courts, handling cases involving patents, trademarks, and other specialized areas. Chief Judge Kimberly A. Moore may have hoped to address that deficit in social standing by paying a PR firm to come up with a video and theme song based on the Schoolhouse Rock genre. If so, a new video is unlikely to help matters.
While some lawyers who received the note from the PR film thought it might be a fake, it was apparently a court product. Here is what was circulated:
Please see here for the fun Schoolhouse Rock-style cartoon theme song for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that Chief Judge Kimberly A. Moore played at their Judiciary Conference on Fri. in Washington. The crowd seemed to enjoy, and it does a good job of explaining the court.
That suspicion may have only increased after clicking on the link:
I was unable to confirm the use or amount of public funds, but the involvement of a public relations firm suggests that money was budgeted for this effort.
Chief Moore may face questions over whether such expenditures are justified. Courts often spend money on conferences that bring in speakers and panels to discuss legal developments and theories. They also have funds for community related activities such as courthouse displays and tours.
The total appropriations for the Federal Circuit in 2025 was $40,365,723. The court increased that request by roughly $2 million. in 2026 to $42,321,260.
Looking at the itemized obligations section of the budget, most of the budget is for salaries. There are provisions for “communications” and “other services” but I could not find anything that clearly encompassed this type of promotional product.
Nevertheless, my assumption is that this expenditure would fall within the broad parameters given to the courts. For example, it could be subsumed within the budget of the annual judicial conference as a fun diversion for the judges and the lawyers.
While it does not reach Noem-like levels (and is focused on the court rather than the Chief Judge), some in Congress may not be thrilled by the notion of courts spending public funds to manage their public image.
If public funds were used for this video, some in Congress may soon be quoting from the original song over the costs: “Yes, I’m only a bill. And I’m sitting here on Capitol Hill.”
Kudos: Professor Josh Blackman
The propaganda video is typical fare for a low IQ Woke Karen Black Robe Faux Illuminati like this woman. Gotta really wonder what is going on behind the blank stare eyes of this idiot woman – probably daydreaming about her next vacation during most of her courtroom time.
Perhaps an end-of-year “use it or lose it” budget expenditure. One of government’s/courts’ odious secrets.
The very idea that the US Federal judicial system would perceive both need and entitlement to produce something of this nature fully attests to the decline and imminent demise of our Republic. End of story.
We really don’t need this. If there is an elementary school out there somewhere that is doing a civics course this might be a slight break from the boredom for the kids to watch when they discuss the judiciary.
I give this a 2-3 on Rotten Tomatoes.
How much did this cost the American taxpayer?
How about the courts making decisions on a constitutional basis instead of politics to improve the courts image?
Until that happens no amount of PR will help the courts image.
Some people in our world have too much time on their hands., and the “look at me” syndrome continues to thrive.