Methodology

How this project operates

A procedural reference for officials, researchers, and voters.

Relationship to the rubric

The Equal Protection Rubric is the governing document. It defines the standard, the theological and constitutional grounds, and the categories into which politicians are placed. This page does not replace the rubric. It isolates the procedures so that officials, researchers, and voters who want to understand exactly how the work is done can do so without re-reading the full argument.

Evaluation

Every politician listed on this site is placed in one of three categories, defined in full in the rubric:

• Defender of Equal Protection
• Opposed Equal Protection
• Record Not Established

Each category is assigned based on the politician's verifiable public record. Categorization is never based on party affiliation, endorsements received, donor patterns, or statements about unrelated issues. The assigned category is visible on every profile, along with the specific evidence items that support it.

What counts as evidence

Admissible:

• Official roll call votes and legislative records
• Bill sponsorship and co-sponsorship records
• Committee hearing schedules and outcomes as documented through official legislative records
• Public statements by the politician, including speeches, press releases, interviews, and social media posts that are attributed and dated
• Official party platform positions endorsed by the politician
• Documented outreach from this project and the politician's response or non-response

Not admissible:

• Anonymous sources or unverified reports of private activity
• Inferences drawn from silence alone when no opportunity to act existed
• Guilt by association with other politicians, organizations, or donors
• Partisan framing or editorial characterization by third-party media
• AI-generated summaries of primary sources, presented as evidence

Every evidence item on every profile includes a date, a description of the action, and a link to the primary source. Where possible, a stable archive link is also provided so the evidence remains accessible if the original source is later removed.

Outreach to officials with no established record

Officials listed as "Record Not Established" receive direct outreach from this project. The procedure is fixed:

1. An initial written communication is sent to the official's office, clearly identifying the project, the standard, and the invitation to provide a verified position statement.
2. A reasonable response period of 30 days is provided.
3. If no response is received, a second and final communication is sent, again providing 30 days.
4. Following two documented outreach attempts and a total of 60 days without response, the politician's profile is updated to reflect that outreach was made and no response was received.

Non-response does not automatically change a politician's category. But the fact of outreach, and the fact of non-response, are public information and will be displayed on the profile. Over time, a pattern of non-response combined with other contextual evidence may support recategorization. Any such recategorization will include a full explanation of the evidence and reasoning.

When a record changes

Politicians who previously opposed equal protection, or who did not have an established record, and who subsequently take verifiable action in support of it, will be recategorized as Defenders of Equal Protection.

The full prior record remains visible. A record of change is a testimony to the power of accountability and conviction, and the project displays that testimony transparently rather than burying it.

Corrections and disputes

If you identify a factual error on any profile, an evidence item that is inaccurate or missing relevant context, or a categorization that does not reflect the politician's current verifiable record, please write to ken@equaldefense.org.

Corrections will be investigated against primary sources. Where a correction is warranted, it will be applied with a visible changelog on the affected profile, preserving the history of the prior record alongside the updated one. Where a dispute is not resolvable by the evidence, the original record will stand and the correspondence may be cited on the profile.

Scope

This project currently evaluates elected officials at the federal and state levels. The pilot jurisdiction and expansion plan are described in the rubric and will be updated on this page once the first state pilot is public.

Local officials may be added where their office has direct authority over the enforcement or non-enforcement of equal protection (for example, district attorneys who publicly decline to prosecute).

Contact

For methodology questions, source submissions, or correction requests: ken@equaldefense.org.