U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Leah Millis | Reuters
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) has urged a Texas Supreme Court justice to reform his district’s case allocation rules. It allowed plaintiffs to effectively “pick” their preferred judge.
Schumer’s request to Chief Judge David Godby of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas argues that a bitter legal battle over the approval of abortion drugs by the Food and Drug Administration has led to conservative lawsuits engaged in “judge shopping.” It was done after provoking charges.
Several court departments in the Godbey District include: Only one thing Or two district judges. The rules now allow plaintiffs to cover these divisions for civil actions, allowing plaintiffs to “effectively select the judges who will hear their cases,” it said. Schumer said Thursday. letter to Godby.
“Naturally, litigants have taken advantage of these orders to select individual district judges who they deem to be particularly sympathetic to their claims,” writes Schumer.
The Senate Speaker called Texas itself a “most egregious” criminal, and said in 29 cases against the Biden administration that “a specific preferred judge, or one of a small number of preferred judges, should be ensured to handle the case.” We have always divided and sued,” he said. listen to the situation. “
If Godbey does not enact reforms, Congress may “consider more prescriptive requirements,” writes Schumer.
The most prominent recent example of a judge’s shopping allegations was a clash over the abortion drug mifepristone. The case was filed in federal court in Amarillo, Texas, where he was the sole judge. Matthew Kaksmalik is former President Donald Trump’s appointee who has voiced socially conservative views on LGBTQ rights and abortion.
By filing a lawsuit in Amarillo, anti-abortion groups seeking to revoke the drug’s approval by the FDA effectively ensured that Kacsmaryk would hear their case. Kacsmaryk ruled in favor of these groups, temporarily suspending approval of the drug. The case quickly made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which last week ordered the pill to remain widely available even as further lawsuits unfolded.
Critics say the strategy of targeting departments with only one judge undermines the court’s integrity because it effectively circumvents the normal process of randomly assigning cases. The random assignment process is intended to “avoid judge shopping”. Note.
The chief justice could not be reached for comment on Schumer’s letter.
“Over the past few years, the state has seen the downside of allowing plaintiffs to hand-select their preferred judges,” Schumer said in a Thursday press release.
“The result? Disorganized and flawed rulings on abortion access, LGBTQ+ protection, legal immigration and climate laws,” he said. “Our country cannot afford to let these practices go wherever they occur.”
In a letter to Godbey, Schumer said, “There is nothing in the Northern District that would require plaintiffs to select judges in this way.”
The division of the district into seven districts is intended to reduce travel time across the vast area. 96,000 square mile.
“Especially in the case of electronic filings, the division need not affect judicial mandate in any way,” argued Schumer. “Other district courts with many rural areas divide civil cases randomly among all judges regardless of where the action is filed.”
He said the West Texas District changed some case allocation rules last year “clearly in response to forum shopping concerns.”
Godbey’s district should make similar changes for all civil cases, writes Schumer.
He acknowledged that courts can set their own rules for how cases are assigned.
“However, if that flexibility allowed litigants to select their preferred judges and effectively guarantee their preferred outcome, Congress would consider more prescriptive requirements,” he wrote. rice field.
