Judge David Godbey, the chief judge of the Northern Texas federal district court division, told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on March 29 that his court would not follow new guidelines meant to curtail the practice of judge shopping, a strategy that conservatives have increasingly used to strike down the policies of President Joe Biden .

It is unfortunate that Chief Judge Godbey and the district judges of the Northern District of Texas have decided to continue to allow the odious practice of judge shopping, Schumer said in a statement on April 1. In doing so, they are allowing plaintiffs to choose their judge a practice that the Judicial Conference has issued guidance to try to curtail.

The Northern Texas federal district courts have been a hotbed of judge shopping by conservative activists ever since Biden took office. Judge shopping is the practice of a plaintiff filing suit in a particular judicial division with the knowledge that the divisions cases are overseen by only one judge a judge the plaintiff knows is favorable to their cause.