Some folks wait until after Christmas to do their shopping, knowing the big savings come after the holiday. But if you are a defendant shopping for a friendly federal judge — or a federal judge shopping for a preferred litigant — the sales may already be over.
That’s thanks to sensible new reforms announced this week by the chief judge for Manhattans’s federal court, Loretta Preska. These new rules are designed to make the assignment of federal judges to cases more random and transparent.
The rules are part of the fallout from the handling of the stop-and-frisk case Floyd v. City of New York by Judge Shira Scheindlin. Now, cases are supposed to be assigned at random. But Floyd avoided the usual process and went straight to Judge Scheindlin because the plaintiffs had filed it — on the judge’s advice — as “related” to a previous case she heard. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, which later took the case away from her, said the way it had arrived in her court raised reasonable doubts about the appearance of impartiality.
Under the new rules, parties must file a written statement that “clearly and succinctly” explains why they believe their case is related to a similar suit. The other side can file an objection.
And while the judge to whom the application is being made will decide whether to accept it, any claim of relatedness will automatically be reviewed by the court’s three-judge assignment committee. If the committee rules the case is not related, it will be randomly assigned to another judge.
All welcome and prudent reforms. Pity we had to wait until after Judge Scheindlin did her damage.