Trump's Justice Department indicts LGBTQ+ rights lawyer in judge-shopping inquiry

The Department of Justice has indicted Carl Charles, a Lambda Legal lawyer, on a charge of making a false statement under oath, a charge that Lambda calls “unjustified.” Charles has pleaded not guilty.

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The indictment, unsealed Monday in U.S, District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, arose from an inquiry into whether lawyers were “judge-shopping” — looking for sympathetic judges — in a case challenging Alabama’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, according to legal outlet Law Dork.

On May 20, 2022, three federal judges in Alabama questioned Charles, asking if he had called any judge’s chambers about the assignment of the case, according to the indictment. Charles said he had not. Law Dork reports that Charles "appeared to be confused initially" around the questioning.

Charles “later amended his answers to state he actually called a judge's clerk,” Reuters reports. “He apologized for his earlier response.”

U.S. District Judge Liles Burke of Alabama’s Northern District had sanctioned Charles in February along with two other lawyers, saying they were trying to “game the system” by withdrawing cases assigned to him and filing a new lawsuit in a different district, according to Reuters. Burke’s ruling noted the change in Charles’s testimony and his apology.

The new case did end up being assigned to Burke, an appointee of Donald Trump, but even though the plaintiffs’ lawyers feared he wouldn’t be sympathetic, he blocked enforcement of certain aspects of the ban. An appeals court overturned this ruling.

The indictment “marks a rare instance of charges being brought related to a widespread practice among both liberal and conservative litigants to steer cases challenging government policies to ideologically sympathetic judges,” Reuters reports.

Charles, who happens to be a trans man, pleaded not guilty Monday, and Lambda Legal released this statement in support of him Tuesday: “This unjustified federal indictment is an outrageous act of governmental overreach. Lambda Legal rejects the notion that the U.S. government can punish lawyers and law firms for exercising their First Amendment rights by speaking up on behalf of causes to which government officials object.

“For more than three years, our colleague, Carl Charles, has been subjected to unprecedented and abusive judicial proceedings, smearing his character and undermining his role in fighting for some of the most vulnerable people in society. We fundamentally disagree with the characterization of the events that underpin this indictment, which ignores the fact that the routine phone call at issue was acknowledged by the court to be entirely legal and proper.

“We unequivocally stand behind Carl and all of our attorneys, who adhere to the highest ethical and professional standards every day in pursuit of our mission to advance and defend the rights of LGBTQ+ people.”

Editor's note: This article has been updated to also cite reporting from Law Dork.