- Joined
- Dec 22, 2011
- Messages
- 59,154
That is how these cases, and many, many cases have been playing out. And it isn’t limited to the NC2A.
Think of all the “political” cases that are filed against a national law and are decided by an injunction by one federal judge. The republicans have successfully brought a number of cases before one specific federal judge in Texas. And I’m sure the democrats have their favorites as well. But this only works in single judge federal districts because it is the only way to be certain who the judge will be as cases are randomly assigned within a jurisdiction. As an example, Fulton County, Ga has something like 20 Superior Court Judges. So if an attorney files a case in Fulton County, the cases is literally assigned to the next judge on the “wheel”. And it truly is that random. And the Northern District of Georgia has around 20 federal judges as well who are randomly assigned. Not good odds either way for “judge shopping”.
Sorsby attorneys will most certainly go “venue shopping”. They can’t guarantee which judge within the county (State judges) or district (federal judges) will be assigned to the case, but that may not matter much in a place like Lubbock. If I was the attorney I would probably file in State court as those judges are typically elected and I would want someone who has to face an election. It adds to the pressure on the judge.
Unless Lubbock is in a one-judge federal district as then I would know exactly who will be assigned if its a federal case.
But back to your point, yes. One judge can grant an injunction.
I would also add...on a preliminary injunction, there is SUPPOSED to be a finding by the judge that the applicant is likely to succeed on the merits. Of course, as we both know, this is a slippery standard that depends on the opinion of the judge.
But logically speaking, "gambling on one's own games" is one of the very few areas where the NCAA has rarely, if ever, overstepped its bounds (or been found to have overstepped by a court of law).
As such, if the judge was TRULY being honest with himself/herself, it would almost certtainly be a "no" answer to the question of whether the applicant is likely to succeed on the merits.
Just my 2 cents.