Federal Courts Crack Down on 'Judge Shopping' Practices

Two conservative federal appeals court judges, James Ho and Edith Jones, criticized the US Judicial Conference for adopting a new rule aimed at curbing "judge shopping" by state attorneys general and activists challenging government policies in sympathetic courthouses. The rule, designed to address a litigation strategy used by conservative litigants, requires lawsuits challenging state and federal laws to be randomly assigned to judges throughout a federal district. The judges argued that the rule conflicted with federal law and was a response to political pressure, while proponents of the rule cited concerns about forum shopping and the need for national policies to be heard by a random judge.