WASHINGTON — The Article III Project (A3P) today filed a formal complaint of judicial misconduct against Judge M. Casey Rodgers of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida. The complaint, submitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit through the Judicial Conduct and Disability Review process, addresses improper statements made by Judge Rodgers during the First Case Management Conference dealing with Depo-Provera, an injectable form of birth control, which is facing litigation.
During the hearing, Judge Rodgers discriminatorily suggested that sex should be a relevant factor in selecting leadership counsel for the multidistrict litigation, stating that “females need to be adequately represented in your leadership.” A3P’s complaint argues that Rodgers violated principles of judicial impartiality and the prohibition against sex-based discrimination in her statement.
“This remark reflects an explicit preference for females in the allocation of professional roles and responsibilities. By implying that sex—rather than qualifications, experience, or merit—should influence selection for MDL leadership, Judge Rodgers engaged in conduct that constitutes impermissible bias and judicial misconduct,” said Davis in the complaint.
“By suggesting that female attorneys should be prioritized for leadership roles based on the nature of the case, Judge Rodgers openly endorsed sex-based decision-making, which constitutes improper judicial favoritism and violates the principle of impartiality. It should go without saying that Judge Rogers’ statement that ‘that doesn’t mean I’m looking for every single leadership to be a female,’ does not somehow justify the express preference for women,” Davis continued.
“Accordingly, I respectfully request that this complaint be thoroughly investigated and that appropriate corrective action be taken to ensure that all attorneys, regardless of sex, are afforded equal treatment in these proceedings,” Davis concluded.
This is the latest judicial complaint filed by A3P. Late last year, A3P filed a complaint regarding a Senior Judge Michael Ponsor’s opinion piece in The New York Times criticizing Justice Samuel Alito, which gained significant attention. This resulted in Chief Judge Albert Diaz of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals siding with Davis in response to the judge's abrupt change of decision. After the ruling, Judge Ponsor apologized for the opinion piece.
The Article III Project (A3P) was founded by veteran GOP operative and attorney Mike Davis, who, after helping win the Senate confirmation battles of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, developed the reputation as a “take-no-prisoners conservative eager to challenge the left with hardball tactics,” as reported in The New York Times.
A3P defends constitutionalist judges, punches back on radical assaults on judicial independence (like court-packing) and opposes judicial and other nominees who are outside of the mainstream. Davis previously served as Chief Counsel for Nominations to Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary and led the Senate confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh and a record number of circuit court judges.
