New Poll: Overwhelming Majority of Americans Across Political Spectrum Support Randomized Judge Assignment to Prevent Judge Shopping
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 14, 2024
CONTACT: [email protected]
WASHINGTON, DC— A new poll released Tuesday shows that 88 percent of Americans across the political spectrum believe judges should be randomly assigned to cases to prevent plaintiffs from handpicking judges for a favorable verdict.
The poll, conducted by YouGov on behalf of Demand Justice, also found that over 70 percent of Democrats, Republicans and Independents believe that “judges in our legal system have too much power to issue rulings that uphold, overturn, or alter our laws and regulations.” This is a strong message in support of Congressional action to check this abuse of our courts.
Earlier this year, the Judicial Conference appeared to walk back a policy that would deter judge shopping following conservative attacks. Shortly after, the Northern District of Texas officially declined to implement the guidelines. A few weeks ago, Texas filed three suits against the Biden administration in Amarillo, Texas, where the case will be assigned to conservative extremist Judge Kacsmaryk.
Demand Justice Managing Director Maggie Jo Buchanan said: “It is clear that the American people demand a fair court system that works for everyone–not just special interests. Judge shopping is being weaponized by far-right activists to take away some of our most fundamental rights. No one should be allowed to pick their own judge and stack the deck in their own favor.”
A copy of the survey questions can be found below.
The national survey of 1,023 voters was conducted from April 25 to 26, 2024.
Demand Justice released the results of the poll on a briefing featuring Maggie Jo Buchanan, Caroline Ciccone, President of Accountable.US, and Skye Perryman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Democracy Forward.
Watch the full video here
The Supreme Court will soon rule in FDA vs. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which seeks to severely restrict access to the abortion pill and is “the most dramatic example of judge shopping in recent years.”
“Judge shopping isn’t just a one-off legal tactic. It’s a tried and tested strategy for conservative groups willing to throw our democracy and credibility of judiciary under the bus as long as they get a favorable outcome,” said Accountable.US president Caroline Ciccone. “It’s critical that we continue to expose brazen examples of judge shopping and support solutions to protect our judiciary and democracy.”
“Whether seeking to restrict access to medication abortion, undermine contraceptive access, erode consumer protections like prohibitions against junk fees, or promoting misinformation, extremist groups are using judge-shopping techniques to peddle misguided and harmful legal theories, putting the lives and well-being of Americans at risk,” said Democracy Forward President and Chief Executive Officer Skye Perryman The courts should work to further justice and rights for all, not undermine them. We are honored to work with Accountable US and Demand Justice to shine a light on the harms of extreme tactics and the imperative that they be addressed by policymakers.”
