Reed v. Paramo
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Janis L. Sammartino (author)
Analysis
Plaintiff Mychal Andra Reed filed a motion to replace the assigned magistrate judge, alleging bias but refusing to provide specific reasoning or facts. The court denied the motion without prejudice, finding that the plaintiff failed to present specific facts supporting a claim of bias under either 28 U.S.C. § 144 or 28 U.S.C. § 455(a).
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Denial of Plaintiff's Request to Replace Magistrate (and Clerk) without prejudice“The Court therefore DENIES WITHOUT PREJUDICE Plaintiff's Motion.” | agree with court The court correctly applied the standard for judicial recusal. Under 28 U.S.C. § 144, a party must make an affidavit stating facts showing bias or prejudice. Under 28 U.S.C. § 455(a), recusal is required if a reasonable person would question the judge's impartiality. The plaintiff explicitly declined to 'divulge his specific reasoning' and offered only general assertions of a desire for an 'impartial' jurist. The court noted that unfavorable rulings alone (such as denials of judicial notice or appointment of counsel) are insufficient to require recusal. Because the plaintiff failed to allege specific facts, the denial was legally appropriate. The 'without prejudice' designation allows the plaintiff to refile if specific facts are later identified, which is a standard procedural accommodation. |
The order itself: sound — The order is sound. It correctly identifies the legal standards for recusal under both 28 U.S.C. § 144 and § 455(a). It accurately notes that the plaintiff failed to provide the requisite specific facts, instead offering only general complaints about fairness. The court properly distinguishes between a lack of specific factual allegations and the mere existence of adverse rulings, citing binding Ninth Circuit authority (Beverly Hills Bancorp) to support the conclusion that adverse rulings alone do not mandate recusal. The denial without prejudice is a procedurally appropriate response to a deficient motion.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MYCHAL ANDRA REED, Case No.: 18-CV-361 JLS (LL)
12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING WITHOUT 13 vs. PREJUDICE PLAINTIFF’S REQUEST TO REPLACE 14 DANIEL PARAMO, et al., MAGISTRATE (AND CLERK) 15 Defendants. (ECF No. 106) 16 17 18 Presently before the Court is Plaintiff Mychal Andra Reed’s Request to Replace 19 Magistrate (and Clerk) (“Mot.,” ECF No. 106). Plaintiff declines to “divulge his specific 20 reasoning for said request,” although offers to “do so at this Court[’]s behest.” Id. at 1. He 21 adds that his “only endeavor is to receive justice against defendants . . . and to be dealt with 22 by an ‘impartial’ jurist who will . . . treat[ him] ‘fairly] in the process, minus bias/ 23 prejudice.” Id. at 2. 24 Although Plaintiff does not specify whether he brings his Motion under 28 U.S.C. 25 § 144 or 28 U.S.C. § 455(a), his Motion fails under either standard because he fails to 26 present any “facts” from which a “reasonable person” could “conclude that the judge’s 27 impartiality might reasonably be questioned,” see Yagman v. Republic Ins. (“Yagman II”), 28 987 F.2d 622, 626 (9th Cir. 1993) (emphasis added) (quoting In re Yagman (“Yagman 1 ||P’), 796 F.2d 1165, 1179 (9th Cir.), amended, 803 F.2d 1085 (9th Cir. 1986), mandamus 2 || granted by Brown v. Baden, 815 F.2d 575 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, Real v. Yagman, 484 3 963 (1987)) (citing United States v. Conforte, 624 F.2d 869, 880-81 (9th Cir.), cert. 4 || denied, 449 U.S. 1012 (1980)) and recusal is not warranted under either statute based on 5 ||speculation. See, e.g., Clemens vy. U.S. Dist. Ct. for Cent. Dist. of Cal., 428 F.3d 1175, 6 || 1180 (9th Cir. 2005) (citing Yagman I, 987 F.2d at 626). The Court therefore DENIES 7 || WITHOUT PREJUDICE Plaintiff's Motion. Plaintiff MAY RENEW his Motion only 8 he can identify specific facts that would cause a reasonable person to question Magistrate 9 || Judge Lopez’s impartiality. 10 IT IS SO ORDERED. 1] 12 ||Dated: February 27, 2020 tt 13 jen Janis L. Sammartino 14 United States District Judge 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 95 ||! A review of the docket indicates that Magistrate Judge Lopez has rejected several submissions by Plaintiff as not appropriate for judicial notice, see ECF Nos. 40, 43, 79, 80, 81, and has denied Plaintiff’ s 26 || requests for appointment of counsel, see ECF Nos. 58, 94, 103; however, “[u]nfavorable rulings alone are legally insufficient to require recusal . . . , even when the number of such unfavorable rulings is 27 extraordinarily high on a statistical basis.” Matter of Beverly Hills Bancorp, 752 F.2d 1334, 1341 (9th 28 Cir. 1984) (citing In re Int’l Business Machines Corp., 618 F.2d 923, 929-30 (2d Cir. 1980); Botts v. United States, 413 F.2d 41, 44 (9th Cir. 1969)).