“Texas should not be required to seek preclearance from the federal courts before its laws go into effect”
Critics often accuse the Texas Attorney General of improper forum shopping–picking certain district courts in Texas where there are extremely high odds of drawing a specific judge. This criticism should be directed at Congress, which creates single-member districts. (Chief Justice Roberts made this point in his end-of-year message.) The Attorney General, like any other litigant, should select the forum that is best suited for his case. And forum shopping is rational. Moreover, it is unfair to criticize the judges who receive these forum-shopped cases. They do not have control over their dockets–unless the Chief Judge randomly takes a certain percentage of their cases, which does happen.
Still, conservatives are not the only litigants who forum shop in Texas. Progressive groups have found their court of choice. No, it is not in Brownsville or Amarillo or Victoria or Tyler or Lubbock or Galveston or Fort Worth. It is the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division. By my count, virtually every high-profile litigation brought against the state of Texas begins in that division. The division has two active district court judges, one appointed by President Obama and one appointed by President George W. Bush. And there is one senior judge appointed by President George H. W. Bush. On paper at least, the bench looks balanced, perhaps even with a slight co
Article from Reason.com
