Judicial body says courts have discretion on new 'judge-shopping' policy after GOP backlash

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News

March 15, 2024, 11:59 PM EDT


WASHINGTON — The U.S. Judicial Conference on Friday issued guidance on the federal judiciary's new policy making it more difficult to "judge-shop" following public criticism from top Republicans in Congress. The term refers to a strategy that has been practiced by some conservative lawyers to bring their cases before a judge with a similar ideology.

A spokesperson for the administrative office of the U.S. Courts said in a statement Friday that the conference’s new policies, approved on Tuesday, “should not be viewed as impairing a court’s authority or discretion.” “Rather, they set out various ways for courts to align their case assignment practices with the long-standing Judicial Conference policy of random case assignment,” the spokesperson said.

On Tuesday, the conference approved a policy to randomly assign cases that could possibly halt state or federal policies to a wider pool of district court judges. The move is designed to crack down on lawyers who engage in “judge-shopping,” or bringing their cases before a smaller subdivision of a district that could ensure the case is overseen by a sympathetic judge.

The practice was highlighted by a high-profile case about federal approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. Anti-abortion rights activists filed a case challenging federal approval in a Texas court where they were guaranteed Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who ultimately ruled in their favor, would hear the case. The case is now before the Supreme Court.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/judicial-body-says-courts-discretion-new-judge-shopping-policy-gop-bac-rcna143697

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Link to original NEWS RELEASE - Conference Acts to Promote Random Case Assignment

Link to new guidance (PDF) - https://aboutblaw.com/bdc9

[machoneman]

1. Ouch! Means judge shopping can and will continue I guess. If so, why in the heck did the Conference....

...issue that statement on Tuesday, to now back off it? Pressure from the R's! Sad but true.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. I don't think they backed off their initial recommendation

which was never a "mandate" but more of a "we're watching and this doesn't look good so please try to avoid doing this" move. Before they did this, there was no "policy" to forbid or restrict it.

But as we know, the GOP will protest anything that tries to halt their attempts at implementing fascism, so they will whine and complain... and the Conference board just reiterated (with the release of the final guidance document on Friday) what they "recommended".

I.e., I expect this initial addressing of the issue was an admonishment (a "warning" ) and if the practice continues unabated, then they will escalate and add more restrictions.

[Martin68]

3. I think the headline is misleading. It appears to me there was no watering down of the determination that judges should

be assigned to cases on a random basis. The article merely states that the authority and discretion of the judge assigned to a case will not be impaired. The issue in question is how judge are assigned two cases, and a random assignment will preclude "judges shopping."

[BumRushDaShow]

4. The news release makes it clearer

that it is targeting cases where the ruling is anticipated or expected to apply "nationwide", and those should not be assigned to "single judge" districts but instead should be randomized (within a state or area) - https://www.uscourts.gov/news/2024/03/12/conference-acts-promote-random-case-assignment

The amended policy applies to cases involving state or federal laws, rules, regulations, policies, or executive branch orders. District courts may continue to assign cases to a single-judge division when they do not seek to bar or mandate state or federal actions, whether by declaratory judgment and/or any form of injunctive relief.

[republianmushroom]

5. So this can continue

And so-called Standards, as we have Supreme Court justice, Clarence Thomas, who can accept lavish gifts of 38 vacations, 26 private jet flights, VIP tickets & luxury resorts. But no one says anything. Crickets