Lu v. Hulme et al

Filing 40

Judge Mark L. Wolf: ORDER entered. (Hohler, Daniel)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
FRIEDRICH LU,
Plaintiff,
v.
GEORGE HULME and TRUSTEES OF
THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY,
Defendants

)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)

C.A. No. 12-11117-MLW

ORDER
WOLF, D.J.

April 16, 2014

For the reasons stated in court on April 14, 2014, it is
hereby ORDERED that:
1. Counsel for defendants shall, by April 23, 2014, consult
his clients and report whether my son Jonathan Wolf might be a
witness in this case, and provide any other information relevant to
whether my disqualification may be necessary or appropriate based
on his work.1
2.

The

parties

shall,

by

May

2,

2014,

file

statements

addressing whether my recusal is required pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§455(a)2 or (b)3 and, in any event, whether pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

1

Since the April 14, 2014 hearing, I have spoken to my son
and been informed that he met one time with the head of security
of the Boston Public Library and received permission for
employees of his organization, Aggressive Street Outreach, to
offer services to homeless individuals using the Library. A
limited amount of such outreach was subsequently done.
2

28 U.S.C. §455(a) requires a judge to disqualify himself
in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be
questioned.
3

28 U.S.C. §455(b)(1) requires a judge to disqualify
himself where he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a

§455(e)4, they wish to waive any ground for disqualification under
subsection (a). See United States v. Sampson, Cr. No. 01-10384-MLW,
2014 WL 1093120 (D. Mass. Mar. 17, 2014); United States v. Salemme,
164 F. Supp. 2d 86 (D. Mass. 1998); United States v. Salemme, 164
F. Supp. 2d 49 (D. Mass. 1998).

/s/ Mark L. Wolf
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

party or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts
concerning the proceeding. 28 U.S.C. §455(b)(5)(iv) requires a
judge to disqualify himself when a person within the third degree
of relationship to him is likely to be a material witness in the
proceeding.
4

28 U.S.C. §455(e) permits the court to accept the parties'
waiver of any ground for disqualification under 28 U.S.C.
§455(a), provided the waiver is preceded by a full disclosure of
the basis for disqualification.
2