U.S. courts require random judge assignments to avoid ‘judge shopping’

[Speedy]

https://wapo.st/4a8RNBc

Federal judiciary leaders on Tuesday announced a policy that requires assigning judges at random in civil cases that have statewide or national implications, an effort to address widespread concerns about “judge shopping” in single-judge divisions.

The Judicial Conference of the United States, the policymaking body for the federal courts, said district courts may continue to assign cases to a single-judge division if those cases don’t seek to bar or mandate state or federal actions through declaratory judgment or injunctive relief.

When random assignments are required, the case will be assigned to a judge within the same judicial district.

“The random case-assignment policy deters judge-shopping and the assignment of cases based on the perceived merits or abilities of a particular judge,” Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr., secretary of the conference, said in a statement. “It promotes the impartiality of proceedings and bolsters public confidence in the federal Judiciary.”

The issue of “judge shopping” gained national attention after antiabortion activists filed a lawsuit seeking to revoke federal approval of the abortion medication mifepristone in a division with just one judge: Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, known for his long-held antiabortion beliefs.

[pdq]

East Texas, famously friendly to patent trolls (194 or more cases filed there against Apple alone!) would go out of business.

And not a moment too soon.

[AllGold]

Long overdue.

[RgrF]

Roger Benitez will have a lot of time on his hands.

[Racer X]

Actually, he was assigned all the firearms cases because his district had a policy of assigning similar cases to the same judge because they were becoming SME in certain types of cases. When you assign a 2A case to someone who knows nothing about how firearms work, and their only knowledge comes from tv and movies, you get some very odd and basic questions from the judge that seriously hinder the whole process. The oral arguments from the bumpstock SCOTUS case proved how unprepared some of the Justices are about some subjects.

They either didn't read the briefs, or didn't retain much.

[gabester]

When you assign a classified documents case to someone who knows nothing about how security clearances work, and their only knowledge comes from tv and movies, you get some very odd and basic questions from the judge that seriously hinder the whole process

Just substitute something else here to make sure the argument makes sense.

Lookin' at you, Aileen Cannon.

[pdq]

Smote wrote:
Actually, he was assigned all the firearms cases because his district had a policy of assigning similar cases to the same judge because they were becoming SME in certain types of cases.

Do you have a link for that?

[pdq]

McConnell says “What’s wrong with judge shopping?”

The GOP leader targeted his message to one Texas judicial district that conservatives have used the most to block Biden administration policies.

… “This was an unforced error by the Judicial Conference. I hope they will reconsider,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a Senate floor speech on Thursday.

… In particular, conservatives have repeatedly filed suit on issues of national importance in the Amarillo, Texas, federal courthouse in the Northern Texas federal district. That’s because the Amarillo courthouse has only one judge: the conservative activist and Trump appointee Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk.

… In addition to his floor speech, McConnell sent a letter with GOP Sens. John Cornyn (Texas) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) to David Godbey - the chief judge of the District Court of the Northern District of Texas, where Kacsmaryk’s Amarillo courthouse is situated - urging him to ignore the Judicial Conference’s new rules.

What’s the point of jamming courts full of conservative whack jobs if you can’t bring them your pet cases?

[AllGold]

pdq wrote:
McConnell says “What’s wrong with judge shopping?”

The GOP leader targeted his message to one Texas judicial district that conservatives have used the most to block Biden administration policies.

… “This was an unforced error by the Judicial Conference. I hope they will reconsider,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a Senate floor speech on Thursday.

… In particular, conservatives have repeatedly filed suit on issues of national importance in the Amarillo, Texas, federal courthouse in the Northern Texas federal district. That’s because the Amarillo courthouse has only one judge: the conservative activist and Trump appointee Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk.

… In addition to his floor speech, McConnell sent a letter with GOP Sens. John Cornyn (Texas) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) to David Godbey - the chief judge of the District Court of the Northern District of Texas, where Kacsmaryk’s Amarillo courthouse is situated - urging him to ignore the Judicial Conference’s new rules.

What’s the point of jamming courts full of conservative whack jobs if you can’t bring them your pet cases?

Still a P.O.S. there, I see, Mitch.