Republicans push back on new federal court policy aimed at ‘judge shopping’ in national cases
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Thursday took aim at a new policy by the federal courts to curb “judge shopping,” a practice that gained national attention in a major case against abortion drugs.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke out against it in the Senate, joining two other Republican senators in sending letters to a dozen chief justices across the country suggesting they don’t have to follow it.
Court policy requires that cases with national implications receive random judge assignments, even in smaller divisions where all cases filed locally go before a single judge. Critics say these single lawsuits essentially allow private or public attorneys to choose which judge will hear their case, including lawsuits that could impact the entire country.
Advocacy groups of all kinds have long tried to file lawsuits with judges they see as friendly to their cause, but the practice gained more attention after an unprecedented ruling that halted approval of abortion drugs.
That case was filed in Amarillo, Texas, where it was almost certain to go before a judge appointed by former President Donald Trump, a former lawyer for a religious freedom legal group that advocated conservative causes.
The Supreme Court ultimately stayed the ruling and will hear arguments on it later this month.
The number of cases seeking national injunctions has increased in recent years, and Senate Republicans have sought to reduce that practice, McConnell said. But he called the court’s new approach an “unforced error.”
“I hope they will reconsider. And I hope that district courts across the country will instead weigh what is best for their jurisdictions, not half-baked ‘guidelines’ that merely follow the wishes of Washington Democrats,” he said.
The policy was adopted by the US Judicial Conference, the governing body for federal courts. It consists of 26 justices, 15 of whom are appointed by Republican presidents, and is chaired by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
It was announced by Judge Jeff Sutton, who serves on the Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit Court of Appeals and chairs the conference’s executive committee. Sutton was appointed by President George W. Bush and clerked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
Republican Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina joined McConnell in letters to chief justices in the affected areas, saying the law allows district courts to set their own rules.
Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, have applauded the policy change, with Schumer saying it would “go a long way toward restoring public confidence in judicial decisions.”
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Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report.