DALLAS - The Northern District of Texas will reportedly not be adopting a policy seeking to eliminate the alleged “judge shopping” within the federal district.
The state of Texas has filed dozens of lawsuits against the Biden Administration, several of which have ended up in the Northern District’s Amarillo Division, where those cases are assigned to Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk – the only judge for the Amarillo Division.
As first reported by Law 360, Judge David Godbey, the chief judge for Texas’ Northern District, announced the decision on Friday.
A year earlier, Sen. Charles Schumer urged Judge Godbey to “reform the method” of how cases are assigned to judges in the federal district.
Schumer’s letter advised the chief judge that “Congress will consider more prescriptive requirements” if litigants are allowed to continue to “hand-pick their preferred judges” in the Northern District.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Judicial Conference recommended a policy governing random case assignment, seeking to limit the ability of litigants to effectively choose judges in certain cases by where they file a lawsuit.
The policy spurred U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) to send a letter reiterating that the Judicial Conference should not interfere in the legislative process.
Schumer also sent a letter, addressed to Judge Godbey, urging him to adopt the Conference's policy.
“The practice of judge shopping is a blight on the American judicial system,” sai Schumer. “At a time when many Americans have lost faith in the court system, we must work to make a more just and more fair system that will upload the integrity of federal cases and subsequent decisions.”