The US Justice Department said that the federal judiciary should implement a rule addressing concerns raised over “forum shopping,” or lawsuits filed in certain courts seeking to obtain rulings from judges against the federal government.
Elizabeth Shapiro, a DOJ lawyer, said at a Thursday meeting of the federal judiciary’s Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure that the government took that stance in a letter sent last month to an advisory committee. That letter was posted on a federal judiciary website later Thursday.
“When a district has this limited distribution of judges and case assignments, a plaintiff filing a case in a particular division can predict which judge will hear their case,” reads the letter, signed by Brian Boynton, the DOJ civil division’s principal deputy assistant attorney general. “A plaintiff that takes advantage of such knowledge creates the perception of judge-shopping and risks undermining confidence in the judiciary.”
The letter said a number of proposals could be adopted to address judge-shopping concerns, but declined to suggest one itself.
US District Judge Robin Rosenberg, chair of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules, said Thursday that the letter is “extensive and very well prepared, and DOJ is on record in support of the authority that the committee has and that the committee should take action.”
Justice Department lawyers have raised the forum shopping issue in litigation, as conservative groups and Republican attorneys general have increasingly filed lawsuits against the Biden administration in courts thought to be more likely to rule in their favor.
US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas, a Trump appointee, in particular has seen his Amarillo courthouse — where he is the sole judge in that division — attract a number of conservative-led lawsuits against the Biden administration. Judicial assignment rules in that court mean Kacsmaryk is automatically assigned all civil cases filed in his division.
The issue has also gained traction at Congress. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) last April wrote to David Godbey, the chief judge for the Northern District, urging him to change the judicial assignment rules there to avoid single-judge districts. Schumer and 17 other Senate Democrats also wrote a letter to Rosenberg in August urging the judiciary to take action, which the judge referenced during Thursday’s meeting.
Several attendees of the Thursday’s judicial committee meeting suggested that, even if it’s decided that the federal courts cannot change rules related to district courts’ assignment of cases, members should still examine the issue. That would prepare them to weigh in if Congress or another body decides to take action related to judicial assignments, they said.