The first post doesn't quite get it right. Judge Rickover doesn't mention that he is a federal judge. Monk mentions Rickover's previous ascension to the federal bench. There is no mention of an appeals court. Rickover says he is going to join the state Supreme Court. As stated in the previous post, Stottlemeyer would not go to a federal judge for a search warrant. Only a federal officer, working on a federal case, would do so. Also, no judge would leave the federal bench to join the state Supreme Court. That would be a step down. Television and film writers, for the most part ignorant of the criminal justice system, often use the word "federal" simply to punch up their writing or give things a certain emphasis, even though it doesn't apply. Another example that comes to mind is in "Analyze This," when Billy Crystal tells Robert DeNiro about an exception to normal treatment protocol that occurs when a patient is in "federal prison." But DeNiro's character is in SingSing, a well-known New York state prison.