Judicial body says courts have discretion on new 'judge-shopping' policy after GOP backlash [View all]
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
Link to original NEWS RELEASE - Conference Acts to Promote Random Case Assignment
Link to new guidance (PDF) - https://aboutblaw.com/bdc9
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