Schumer Statement On The Northern District Of Texas Refusing To Abide By Commonsense Judicial Conference Guidelines On Judge Shopping

New York, NY – Today, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) released the following statement after Chief Judge Godbey of the Northern District of Texas wrote to Leader Schumer saying that his district court would ignore the guidance issued by the Judicial Conference to curtail the unfair practice of judge shopping. Leader Schumer has been sounding the alarm on this practice for over a year and recently wrote to the Judicial Conference to encourage them to enforce this much-needed guidance.

“It is unfortunate that Chief Judge Godbey and the district judges of the Northern District of Texas have decided to continue to allow the odious practice of judge shopping. In doing so, they are allowing plaintiffs to choose their judge – a practice that the Judicial Conference has issued guidance to try to curtail.  

“Judge shopping has been abused by right-wing activists to circumvent the legislative process and subvert the will of the American people. Both the Western and Eastern District Courts in Texas have acted to block judge shopping when it was being abused in patent cases and the same should be done here in the Northern District. The American people deserve to have faith in the fairness of our court system, and it is clear that the Judicial Conference’s new policy moves our legal system in the right direction.

“The Senate will consider legislative options that put an end to this misguided practice.”   

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