Courts

Texas Court Doesn't Give A Flying Fig What You Think Of It

What hath the Fifth Circuit wrought?

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(Image via Shutterstock)

Forum shopping always seemed like a much bigger deal in law school than in actual practice. Pop that baby on a list of concerns on a proper venue question on your civ pro exam and you’re money. In real life, it was more like, well, we’ve got two New York corporations against one another so, Bob’s your uncle. Of course, I’m dating myself because both of these experience were before Donald Trump started stacking the federal judiciary with ideologues who care more about advancing their preferred policy goals than the integrity of the judicial system.

Now plaintiffs whose cases are sympathetic to right-wing judges try and game the system. We’ve got judges in corners of the country who sit by themselves or with senior status judges who automatically get all the cases filed in that court. So when Matthew Kacsmaryk sits all by himself in Amarillo, Texas, and plaintiffs want to ban mifepristone, they are all but assured of the result (until nine justices remember that pesky little standing thing).

To combat the deteriorating faith in the judiciary this fosters, the Judicial Conference of the United States decided to reform to the case assignment process, such that cases seeking national (or statewide) injunctions cannot automatically be assigned to the courthouse where they’re filed, but must be randomly assigned in a process that includes all the judges in the district. But right-wing judges were predictably perturbed their power to set a national agenda might be curtailed. And then the Northern District of Texas noped out of the entire plan.

But Texas federal courts aren’t done thumbing their nose at the perception of fairness and impartiality.

As reported by Reuters:

A majority of judges on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas approved a rule that would stay for 21 days any decisions to transfer civil cases to courts outside of the jurisdiction of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The rule will take effect on Sept. 3, absent any changes in response to public comment, according to an order, by Chief U.S. District Judge David Godbey, and would at that time slow down transfers orders that without a stay can happen swiftly.

The rule will make it more difficult for the Biden administration to avoid defending against lawsuits in the Northern District, whose small courthouses in cities like Amarillo and Forth Worth have become a favored venue for challenges to its policies.

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This mirrors a similar rule in the Southern District of Texas, because why should we have nice things.

Twice now Trump-appointed judge Mark Pittman has tried to transfer a case about credit card fees to Washington, D.C. — with a compelling graphic!

fees case graphic

…But the Fifth Circuit intervened and told him (basically) they had a political agenda, so the case had to stay in Texas and under the 5th Circuit’s jurisdiction. Super reassuring for the rule of law.

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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.

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