A conservative legal group has filed a judicial misconduct complaint accusing three federal judges in Illinois of discrimination, citing policies they adopted to give young women and minority lawyers greater opportunities to argue cases in court.
America First Legal, a group founded by former Trump White House adviser Stephen Miller, on Thursday filed a complaint with the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals accusing three judges in Illinois' Southern District of race and sex discrimination.
The group is objecting to orders that U.S. District Judges Nancy Rosenstengel, Staci Yandle and David Dugan issued in 2020 encouraging the participation of "newer, female, and minority attorneys" in court proceedings.
Under the policies, parties can alert the judges if they intend to have a less-experienced, female, or minority attorney argue a motion. The judges in turn "strongly consider" giving extra time for oral argument and allowing more experienced attorneys to provide the newer ones assistance.
Gene Hamilton, America First Legal's general counsel, in a statement called the policies "intolerable" and argued they should be rescinded as they "treat some attorneys better than others based on the color of their skin or their sex."
The complaint argues the judges are violating federal judicial conduct rules and are discriminating based on race in violation of the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment's equal protection guarantee.
The judges and 7th Circuit did not respond to requests for comment.
Several federal judges nationally in recent years have adopted orders that encourage senior lawyers to give younger attorneys a chance to argue cases, citing a lack of in-court advocacy opportunities as fewer cases go to trial.
The American Bar Association since 2017 has urged courts to implement plans to give new lawyers courtroom experience, and last year passed a resolution calling on courts to allow two attorneys to argue for each client to foster that goal.
The resolution said the policy would help the legal profession further address its longstanding struggle to diversify, since the senior ranks of the profession are disproportionately male and white.
While policies adopted by some judges to promote young lawyer participation are silent on race or gender, the orders issued by the three Illinois judges specifically focus on boosting participation by women and underrepresented minorities.
Rosenstengel, the Southern District of Illinois' chief judge, and Yandle are both appointees of Democratic former President Barack Obama. They adopted their orders in January 2020.
Dugan, an appointee of Republican former President Donald Trump in East St. Louis, adopted his order in October 2020 shortly after joining the court.
Miller's group has filed a series of complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against companies including Activision Blizzard Inc and Kellogg Co alleging efforts to diversify their workforces are discriminatory.
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