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Fairness in judge assignments

In Re La Verne Koenig

Updated Nov 12, 2026

In brief

Where it stands
Petition Pending

Awaiting an order on the petition

No decision timeline until the Court agrees to hear the case.

What it’s about
Koenig alleges a federal court used a judge she had rejected, moved her case, mishandled her request for a group lawyer, and gave flawed service instructions; she says an appeals court rejected her request for a court order without explanation.
What's at stake
For Koenig, the challenged procedures and her request for Supreme Court review remain unresolved.

Summary: written with AI from the case record.

What it's about

She asks the Supreme Court to review whether the courts failed to provide fair procedures.

Her claims concern federal rules for who may handle a civil case, where it is heard, and how parties are notified and served.

Question presented

1. Whether a federal district court deprives a litigant of due process and systematically evades the strict statutory limits on magistrate judge jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. Section 636(c) and the mandatory disqualification requirements of 28 U.S.C. Section 455 by utilizing a combined localized practice of: *(a) Withholding mandatory Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 73 notices while issuing judicial orders prior to the expiration of the statutory timeframe for party consent; and *(b) Deploying a telephonic, administrative “ referral judge ” mechanism to reassign a civil action to a magistrate judge who has already been formally disqualified and rejected by the parties? 2. Whether a federal district court violates a pro se litigant ’ s Fifth Amendment rights to due process and meaningful access to the courts by: *(a) Verbally designating an Article III judge at the filing counter while simultaneously executing a concealed electronic docket entry that reassigns the case and venue to a different division without notice, a hearing or a showing of good cause, in violation of 28 U.S.C. Sections 1391 and 1404; *(b) Permitting an unconsented magistrate judge to summarily deny a request for Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 class counsel as moot; and *(c) Issuing official, written administrative guidelines regarding service of process that are defective, deceptively vague, or contrary to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, thereby inducing a foreseeable procedural default? 3. Whether a United States Court of Appeals abdicates its supervisory duties and violates the Due Process Clause under Will v. United States, 389 U. S. 90 (1967) by summarily denying a petition for a writ of mandamus via a boilerplate order devoid of any factual or legal analysis, where the petitioner has demonstrated a structural violation of 28 U.S.C. Section 292(d) stemming from a chief judge ’ s failure to certify a motion to disqualify an entire local federal bench?

What happens next

The Court's next step is to decide whether to hear the petition. No oral argument or decision date is set.

Documents

1

Docket activity

6
  • Case data updated: title

    Nov 12, 2026 · Court records

  • New analysis added

    Nov 12, 2026 · Court records

  • AI analysis generated: Case Briefing

    Nov 12, 2026 · Generated

  • Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata

    Nov 12, 2026 · Court records

  • Case data updated: question_presented, extraction_metadata

    Nov 12, 2026 · Court records

Show 1 more
  • Brief added: Petition

    Feb 20, 2026 · Court records

Sources

Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.

Checked Nov 12, 2026Methodology

Court records and filings

Reporting and analysis