Why Texas judges have so much power right now
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Publicado 2023-05-11
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In April 2021, Texas sued the US government over immigration policy. But they didn’t sue in Texas’s state capital; or in Washington, DC; or in any of the five federal courthouses along Texas’s border with Mexico. They filed the suit in a small Texas city called Victoria, far from any important government officials or immigration centers. And they did it there because they knew that if they did, a judge named Drew Tipton would be assigned to their case.
In the time since Joe Biden has become president, Texas has sued the federal government 31 times. That’s a lot, but what’s more striking is that eight of those lawsuits have been heard by Judge Tipton specifically. The reason that’s weird is that, normally, judges are supposed to be assigned to cases randomly. But in Texas, you can choose your judge. It’s called “judge shopping” and it’s made Texas judges some of the most powerful in the country.
It’s not just the state of Texas filing suits. In 2022 a private group called the Alliance For Hippocratic Medicine filed a suit demanding that the FDA take mifepristone, a widely used abortion medication approved in 2000, off the market. And they filed the suit in Amarillo, Texas, where the judge Matthew Kacsmaryk hears 100 percent of the cases. Kacsmaryk had previously been a lawyer for right-wing causes before he was a judge, and he ruled accordingly, ordering that the FDA ban mifepristone throughout the US.
In the mifepristone case, the Supreme Court stepped in and paused the decision, but the fact that it got so close to being banned shows how empowered Texas federal judges are by the rules of Texas district courts. These judges, most of whom were appointed by Donald Trump, are playing a huge role in shaping national policy, and they’ve turned Texas into a powerful weapon against the federal government.
Sources/further reading:
The Federal Judicial Center keeps a phenomenal and really easy-to-use database of all US federal judges: www.fjc.gov/history/judges/search/advanced-search
In 2022 Steve Vladeck filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court that outlines the issue of judge shopping really clearly: www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22A17/230032/202…
This 2018 article by Alex Botoman dives into the issue of random case assignment and was an invaluable resource in understanding how federal district courts around the country assign cases, with or without the use of divisions: hrlr.law.columbia.edu/files/2018/07/AlexBotomanDiv…
Steve also writes a Substack about law and the Supreme Court, and in March wrote a great post about single-judge divisions: stevevladeck.substack.com/p/18-shopping-for-judges
And Steve's book about the Supreme Court comes out on May 16, 2023: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/stephen-vladeck/t…
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Todos los comentarios (21)
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UPDATE: In March 2024, the Judicial Conference of the United States, which regulates the federal courts, announced a new rule that will attempt to curb "judge shopping" by mandating a random assignment for any lawsuit that tries to change national or statewide policy: www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/12/24098760/supreme-cour…
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The more I learn about the American political and jurisdictional systems, the more I understand why even the most simple problems aren't fixed in the USA.
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It's sickening to see that one judge in 1 state could make a ruling which could effect the entire country. No judge should have that much power.
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"Judge shopping" is another layer of astonishing corruption. Imagine if you were on trial for crimes and you could have your case judged by your best friend, who you also happened to give a big "loan" to last year. It would completely break the court system. But that's what's happening here, with judges who make rulings affecting the entire country. It's disgusting.
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No state and political party should be able to do these shenanigans that affect the entire country without a vote. How corrupt.
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It's incredible that so much of US policy is decided by judges rather than elected lawmakers...
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America seems so complicated and divided.
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Ah, so corruption. Sounds like the rules need to be changed and some judges who clearly are activists need to be dismissed.
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Here's a non complicated solution, judges shouldn't be chosen by political entities and they should be impartial
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As a native Texan, I've always been grossed out by how our judicial system works. They didn't even get into how judges are voted into their positions and then refuse to recuse themselves for conflicts of interest.
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How dafuq can the Americans even claim that they have Rule of Law, when their legal system is this messed up and prone to abuse of process =.=
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We should pass a federal law against judge shopping. These are unelected officials making laws.
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That is ridiculously easy to abuse for rich people
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When Conservatives said "activist judges".... apparently they are the ones appointing activist judges to the bench
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It’s sad but I don’t have any faith in our legal system nowadays.
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"with great power comes great corruption"
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all judges in this country have way too much power and almost no accountability
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Christ America's entire political system is a joke.
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Politicians pick their voters. Lawyers pick their judges. This is how democracy crumbles.
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I find it puzzling that a local dostrict court and local judge can make decisions that can have nationwide affects that aren't limited to the state the decision was made in? The video also doesn't clarify why district courts can make decisions for the whole country. What if another state counter-sues on an opposite position and a different local judge rules in the opposite way for a separate suit that addresses the same problem?
