have they been used by the judiciary?
Federal judges, when interpreting the Constitution, frequently use "The Federalist Papers" as a contemporary account of the intentions of the framers and ratifiers.
The Federalist Papers
Federal judges, when interpreting the Constitution, frequently use "The Federalist Papers" as a contemporary account of the intentions of the framers and ratifiers. 
in the 1780s the publication of the federalist papers was intended to promote the ratification of the United States Constitution when were they published? Between October 1787 and April 1788 and who wrote them? Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay
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The Federalist Papers [SEP] Judicial use
Federal judges, when interpreting the Constitution, frequently use "The Federalist Papers" as a contemporary account of the intentions of the framers and ratifiers. They have been applied on issues ranging from the power of the federal government in foreign affairs (in "Hines v. Davidowitz") to the validity of ex post facto laws (in the 1798 decision "Calder v. Bull", apparently the first decision to mention "The Federalist"). , "The Federalist" had been quoted 291 times in Supreme Court decisions. The amount of deference that should be given to "The Federalist Papers" in constitutional interpretation has always been somewhat controversial. As early as 1819, Chief Justice John Marshall noted in the famous case "McCulloch v.