[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1758 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1758

    To address the rising trend of venue-shopping in Federal courts.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 30, 2023

   Mr. Wyden introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To address the rising trend of venue-shopping in Federal courts.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Courts Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. REINSTATING 3-JUDGE REQUIREMENT FOR SUITS SEEKING NATIONWIDE 
              RELIEF.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 155 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting before section 2283 the following:
``Sec. 2282. Nationwide relief; three-judge court required
    ``(a) Definition.--In this section, the term `nationwide relief' 
means--
            ``(1) an interlocutory or permanent injunction restraining 
        the Federal Government or a Federal officer with respect to any 
        person other than the plaintiff;
            ``(2) any order that vacates a Federal regulation on a 
        nationwide basis; and
            ``(3) a stay of execution of a judgment granting relief 
        described in paragraph (1) or (2).
    ``(b) Requirement.--
            ``(1) In general.--A court of the United States or judge 
        thereof may not grant any form of nationwide relief unless the 
        application therefor is heard and determined by a district 
        court of 3 judges under section 2284.
            ``(2) Exceptions.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the 
        Supreme Court of the United States or a court of appeals of the 
        United States.
            ``(3) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this section shall 
        be construed to expand or limit the forms of relief that the 
        courts of the United States may grant.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 155 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
before the item relating to section 2283 the following:

``2282. Nationwide relief; three-judge court required.''.

SEC. 3. RANDOM ASSIGNMENT OF CASES.

    (a) Division of Business Among District Judges.--Section 137 of 
title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
    ``(b) Random Assignment of Cases.--
            ``(1) In general.--In establishing rules for the division 
        of business among district judges, a district court shall 
        ensure that the probability that an action, suit, or proceeding 
        is assigned to any particular judge does not exceed 25 percent.
            ``(2) Exceptions.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to--
                    ``(A) a criminal proceeding;
                    ``(B) an action, suit, or proceeding that is 
                related to another action, suit, or proceeding pending 
                before a judge of the district court;
                    ``(C) an application for a writ of habeas corpus 
                under section 2242 or any related proceeding; or
                    ``(D) a motion to vacate, set aside, or correct a 
                sentence under section 2252 or any related proceeding.
            ``(3) Low-population districts.--
                    ``(A) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term 
                `low-population district' means a district that does 
                not have enough judges to ensure that the probability 
                that an action, suit, or proceeding is assigned to any 
                particular judge does not exceed 25 percent, as 
                required under paragraph (1).
                    ``(B) Use of judges from adjacent districts.--The 
                chief judge of the circuit in which a low-population 
                district is located may assign 1 or more judges from 1 
                or more districts that are adjacent to, and in the same 
                State as, the low-population district to serve in the 
                low-population district as necessary to ensure that the 
                probability that an action, suit, or proceeding is 
                assigned to any particular judge does not exceed 25 
                percent, as required under paragraph (1).
                    ``(C) Exception.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if 
                there are no adjacent districts within the same State 
                as a low-population district, the probability that an 
                action, suit, or proceeding is assigned to any 
                particular judge in the low-population district may not 
                be greater than the percentage obtained by dividing the 
                number 1 by the number of judges within the low-
                population district.''.
    (b) Three-Judge Courts.--Section 2284(b)(1) of title 28, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence, by striking ``designate two'' 
        and inserting ``randomly designate three''; and
            (2) in the second sentence, by striking ``, and the judge 
        to whom the request was presented,''.

SEC. 4. PUBLICATION OF DIVISION ORDERS.

    Section 137 of title 28, United States Code, as amended by section 
3, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Publication of Division Orders.--A district court shall 
publish any order for the division of business among district judges 
with other standing orders on the website of the district.''.
                                 <all>