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How ‘judge shopping’ is shaping the legal fights against President Trump’s agenda in federal court

How ‘judge shopping’ is shaping the legal fights against President Trump’s agenda in federal court

The onslaught of legal challenges to President Donald Trump’s early actions brought by federal workers and advocacy groups have found their way into mostly friendly courts, overseen, for the most part, by sympathetic judges. These plaintiffs have employed a well-known, pervasive strategy used by both sides of the political aisle, known as forum or “judge shopping”– that is, to have a case tried in a certain district court, and one that falls under the jurisdiction of a U.S. appeals court with a certain political makeup. This strategy serves a distinct legal purpose. While the Supreme Court is the nation’s highest court, most cases don’t make it there. That’s because the Supreme Court hears an average of less than 100 cases annually, according to federal judiciary data. In contrast, the 13 U.S. appeals courts handle an average of more than 50,000 cases per year – meaning that these courts often get to rule on the most pressing legal issues.  HERE’S WHY DOZENS OF LAWSUITS SEEKING TO QUASH TRUMP’S EARLY ACTIONS AS PRESIDENT ARE FAILING And while plaintiffs suing the federal government used to have to establish a local, geographic connection to the district where they were filing their lawsuit, Congress broadly moved to lift that requirement more than 30 years ago – allowing the practice to quickly gain prominence.  As president, Trump “is exercising Article II power to take care that our federal laws are faithfully executed,” Mike Davis, the founder and president of the Article III Project, or A3P, told Fox News Digital in an interview. “That’s his constitutional duty. And that includes weeding out waste, fraud and abuse. That’s what he’s doing with Elon Musk and with DOGE,” said Davis, a former Supreme Court clerk for Justice Neil Gorsuch. But recent years have seen a wave of new efforts to reform the system and stop the process of “judge shopping,” with detractors pointing to a spate of recent examples where cases were filed specifically in certain districts in an effort to yield more favorable outcomes. It’s a strategy both Republican and Democrat plaintiffs have used with increasing regularity. Most recently, groups of Democratic-led plaintiffs filed three separate court challenges to Trump’s executive order seeking to ban birthright citizenship within the jurisdiction of the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals, or the Boston-based appeals court whose bench is composed primarily of Democratic-appointed judges.   Other groups seeking to overturn Trump’s early actions have focused on courts within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which has a reputation for liberal decisions.  Judges on that bench moved unanimously to block the Trump administration’s birthright citizenship order from taking force, leaving in place the decision of a Seattle district court, and potentially kicking the matter to the Supreme Court for consideration. TRUMP STRIPS SECURITY CLEARANCES FROM LAW FIRM TIED TO JACK SMITH CASES Other notable examples include a wave of anti-abortion cases filed in the rural Texas town of Amarillo, where the sole federal judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, is known for his anti-abortion beliefs and for siding on behalf of pro-life groups. (Texas is also under the jurisdiction of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, where 75% of the 26 judges on the bench are Republican-appointed.) Kacsmaryk’s attempt to ban the abortion pill, mifepristone, in 2023 was upheld but narrowed by the Fifth Circuit Court. It was later dismissed completely by the Supreme Court, which noted that the plaintiffs in the case lacked proper standing.  Still, judicial reform advocates have pointed to this case – and many others – as evidence of the lengths individuals will go to in an attempt to reshape the federal policy landscape by way of case law and legal precedent. “Allowing plaintiffs to pick their judge is contrary to the bedrock federal court principle of randomly assigning cases to judges through an electronic version of drawing names from a hat,” Russell Wheeler, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies program, wrote in an op-ed.  LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS Davis, for his part, told Fox News that his organization, A3P, is currently working with the Senate Judiciary Committee to draft legislation to end the flurry of temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions that have come before single judges. “The legislation will require a three-judge panel randomly assigned from around the country; a lottery system” to hear various cases and prevent the uptick in forum shopping, Davis said. Federal judiciary leaders and members of Congress have also introduced efforts within the last year aimed at stopping or curtailing the pervasiveness of judge-shopping. Senate Democrats introduced a bill last spring that would require cases to be randomly assigned within a federal court district, though it has failed to gain traction in the rest of Congress.  Last March, the U.S. Judicial Conference, the body that sets policy for the federal courts, issued fresh guidance urging courts to assign certain high-profile cases at random in a bid to stop judge shopping and restore public trust in the court system. “The random case-assignment policy deters judge-shopping and the assignment of cases based on the perceived merits or abilities of a particular judge,” Judge Robert J. Conrad, the U.S. Judicial Conference secretary, said in a statement at the time. Rather, he said, the feature “promotes the impartiality of proceedings and bolsters public confidence in the federal Judiciary.”

Massie says he’s a ‘NO’ on Trump-endorsed government funding measure: ‘Unless I get a lobotomy’

Massie says he’s a ‘NO’ on Trump-endorsed government funding measure: ‘Unless I get a lobotomy’

As the deadline to avert a partial government shutdown approaches and President Donald Trump urges Republicans to support passage of a funding measure, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has declared that he will oppose the proposal. “Unless I get a lobotomy Monday that causes me to forget what I’ve witnessed the past 12 years, I’ll be a NO on the CR this week. It amazes me that my colleagues and many of the public fall for the lie that we will fight another day,” Massie declared in a Sunday post on X. President Donald Trump has urged Republicans to pass the measure. CONGRESS UNVEILS SPENDING PLAN AFTER TRUMP CALLS ON REPUBLICANS TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN “The House and Senate have put together, under the circumstances, a very good funding Bill (“CR”)! All Republicans should vote (Please!) YES next week,” the president said in a Saturday Truth Social post.  “Great things are coming for America, and I am asking you all to give us a few months to get us through to September so we can continue to put the Country’s ‘financial house’ in order. Democrats will do anything they can to shut down our Government, and we can’t let that happen. We have to remain UNITED — NO DISSENT — Fight for another day when the timing is right. VERY IMPORTANT. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” House Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., is supporting the funding measure. REP. RALPH NORMAN BACKS TRUMP’S PLAN TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, PUSHES FOR CONGRESSIONAL TERM LIMITS “Congress must keep the government open so that DOGE can continue to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in our government. This continuing resolution is necessary to advance President Trump’s agenda. I fully support it,” Harris declared in a tweet. The Trump administration’s DOGE effort aims to uncover government waste, fraud, and abuse that can be slashed from the federal government. JOHN FETTERMAN TAKES AIM AT HIS OWN PARTY IN TWEET ABOUT ‘#THERESISTANCE’: ‘HOLD OUR BEER’ CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Why would I vote to continue the waste fraud and abuse DOGE has found? We were told the CR in December would get us to March when we would fight. Here we are in March, punting again! WTFO,” Massie declared in a tweet. A House Appropriations Committee press release about the measure indicates that it “Ensures a costly government shutdown does not befall the American people,” “Enhances defense investments and includes the largest pay raise for junior enlisted troops in over 40 years” and “Increases funding for air traffic control priorities over FY24.”  “The bill fully funds the program that provides important nutrition assistance to mothers, infants, and children. It includes a more than $500M increase for WIC, as requested by the Trump Administration, for a total of $7.6B,” the press release indicates.

Inside Anosh Ahmed’s Leadership Book: How to Inspire and Motivate Teams in the 21st Century

Inside Anosh Ahmed’s Leadership Book: How to Inspire and Motivate Teams in the 21st Century

Leadership today requires more than just managerial skills; it demands an ability to connect with people, inspire them, and create a culture where everyone thrives. Anosh Ahmed, a renowned physician, entrepreneur, and author of Leadership 101, offers insights into how leaders can motivate teams and adapt their management strategies to align with the evolving needs of their workforce.

Arkansas public school students will soon be required to take gun safety courses

Arkansas public school students will soon be required to take gun safety courses

The Arkansas state Senate passed a bill to provide age-appropriate firearms safety instruction to students last week and the Arkansas Department of Education will be working with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to develop a plan. Act 229, also known as House Bill 1117, will require public school districts and open-enrollment public charter schools to annually provide students with instruction on firearm safety. The bill’s sponsors say the idea came from conversations among neighbors. PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THIS STATE COULD SOON BE REQUIRED TO TAKE GUN SAFETY COURSES “All of our children play together and invade whatever home happens to be the play of the day. And in that process, they may go into a neighbor’s home and discover that unsecured firearm, and how would they react,” said Rep. Scott Richardson. The bill says it will empower the Arkansas State Game and Fish Commission to work with the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education to create and approve age-appropriate firearm safety courses.  Methods discussed in the bill range from videos to online sources and even mentions the possibility of an off-campus, commission-approved firearm safety course in conjunction with a live-fire exercise or sporting event. Although these are just options being discussed at this time, the bill does state that if an option of live-fire training is approved, parents will have to give consent. “If an off-campus, commission-approved firearm safety course is provided in conjunction with a live-fire exercise or sporting event, the provider of the off-campus, commission-approved firearm safety course and the public school district or open-enrollment public charter school in which the participating student is enrolled shall obtain prior written approval from the participating student’s parent, legal guardian, or person standing in loco parentis to the participating student,” according to the bill. GEORGIA HOUSE ADVANCES GUN SAFETY TRAINING TAX CREDIT, BAN ON GUN STORE MERCHANT CATEGORY CODE The committee will also be responsible for determining the earliest grade appropriate for students to begin receiving the training. Instruction will begin with the 2025-2026 school year.