Glaze v. Weaver et al

Filing 51

ORDER denying 48 Plaintiff's Motion for Recusal. Signed by Magistrate Judge Joe J. Volpe on 12/4/2012. (srw)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
WESTERN DIVISION
CHARIELL ALI GLAZE,
ADC #147919
v.

PLAINTIFF

4:11-cv-00881-JLH-JJV

SUSAN K. WEAVER; et al.

DEFENDANTS
ORDER

Before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion for Recusal (Doc. No. 48) of the undersigned
Magistrate Judge in this matter. In the Motion, Mr. Glaze alleges this Judge is in collusion with state
officials. Id.
Under § 455(a), a judge is required to "disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his
impartiality might reasonably be questioned." 28 U.S.C. § 455(a). Congress amended § 455 in 1974
"to clarify and broaden the grounds for judicial disqualification and to conform with the recently
adopted [American Bar Association] Code of Judicial Conduct, Canon 3C (1974)." Liljeberg v.
Health Servs. Acquisition Corp., 486 U.S. 847, 858 n.7 (1988). “The question is ‘whether the
judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned by the average person on the street who knows
all the relevant facts of a case.’ ” United States v. Dehghani, 550 F.3d 716, 721 (8th Cir. 2008)
(citation omitted). “A party introducing a motion to recuse carries a heavy burden of proof; a judge
is presumed to be impartial and the party seeking disqualification bears the substantial burden of
proving otherwise.” Pope v. Fed. Express Corp., 974 F.2d 982, 985 (8th Cir. 1992).
The undersigned took a sacred oath to administer justice without respect to persons, giving
equal right to the poor and to the rich. I further swore that I would faithfully and impartially
discharge and perform the duties of United States Magistrate Judge under the Constitution and laws

of the United States. This Court gives no favor to any one side in any case and is not colluding with
state officials in this case. This Court will faithfully and impartially make decisions based on the
law and facts.
Therefore, Plaintiff’s Motion for Recusal (Doc. No. 48) is DENIED.
DATED this 4th day of December, 2012.

______________________________________
JOE J. VOLPE
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE