On Tuesday, the little-known Judicial Conference of the United States — the policymaking arm of the federal judiciary — made some unusual headlines by announcing a new effort to make it harder for plaintiffs in certain lawsuits challenging state or federal policies to hand-pick the specific judge who hears their case. This crackdown on “judge shopping” is long overdue. It has also provoked a rather telling reaction from Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz and Thom Tillis.
The problem quickly became evident: Many of these cases were being filed in these remote jurisdictions entirely because it allowed the plaintiffs to hand-pick the specific judges who would hear them. Indeed, Texas publicly conceded that it was filing challenges in immigration cases in the Victoria division of the Southern District of Texas in order to draw Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton.