Boston Federal Court Will Randomly Assign Some National Cases

The Massachusetts federal trial court will assign certain cases challenging federal policies to judges at random, following judiciary guidance last year aimed at curbing judge-shopping practices.

Civil lawsuits seeking to block policies nationwide filed in the Boston-based court’s Springfield and Worcester divisions may now be assigned to any judge on the bench, regardless of division, Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts said in a Tuesday night memo.

The Springfield and Worcester divisions each have one sitting district judge. Judge Mark G. Mastroianni, an Obama appointee, sits in Springfield, while ...