On Tuesday afternoon, a reporter from the Washington Post called to ask me about a new policy from the Judicial Conference designed to limit forum shopping. I inquired if she had a copy of the policy. She said no, but there was a press release. I was tempted to reply, "Democracy dies in darkness." Still, all we have is a press release.
The Judicial Conference of the United States has strengthened the policy governing random case assignment, limiting the ability of litigants to effectively choose judges in certain cases by where they file a lawsuit.
The policy addresses all civil actions that seek to bar or mandate state or federal actions, "whether by declaratory judgment and/or any form of injunctive relief." In such cases, judges would be assigned through a district-wide random selection process. . . .
The amended policy applies to cases involving state or federal laws, rules, regulations, policies, or executive branch orders. District courts may continue to assign cases to a single-judge division when they do not seek to bar or mandate state or federal actions, whether by declaratory judgment and/or any form of injunctive relief.
How will this policy operate? When does it actually go into effect? How are litigants to know what types of remedies will trigger the policy? Who the hell knows? Not even the district court judges have seen a copy of the policy. They learned about it when we did. Courthouse News reported that the policy will be circulated to judges later this week, and the chief judges will "have to meet to discuss the change." You think?
