Scott v. Perry et al

Filing 37

ORDER DENYING 6 Motion to Recuse. FiNALLY ORDERED that the above-styled and numbered cause is TRANSFERRED to the Austin Docket of the Honorable Lee Yeakel, United States District Judge. Signed by Judge Sam Sparks. (td)

F

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF
AUSTIN DIVISION

COUIJ
TJB

L.

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27

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PM 14.06

GEORGE R. SCOTT III,
Plaintiff,
Case No. A-15-CA-11-SS

-vs-

JAMES RICHARD PERRY, ELIZABETH M.
DARLING, THE TEXAS GOVERNORS
OFFICE, and THE ONESTAR FOUNDATION
OF TEXAS,
Defendants.

(1

P

fl

1'

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BE IT REMEMBERED on this day the Court reviewed the file in the above-styled cause,
and specificallypro se Plaintiff George R. Scott III's Motion to Recuse [#6], filed January 26, 2015.
Scott moves to recuse United States District Judge Lee Yeakel from this action on grounds Judge

Yeakel was appointed by former President George W. Bush, who "could become" a named
defendant in the suit. Mot. Recuse [#6] at

1.

The Court now enters the following order DENYING

the motion.
According to Scott' spro se Complaint [#1], Defendant Elizabeth M. Darling, to whom Scott
was formerly married, "created and caused a Faith Based sex scandal" by using "Texas State funds
to pay for expenses related to multiple adulterous affairs." Compl. [#1] at 5. Scott alleges Governor

Perry "has been and is currently involved in the cover up of Ms Darling's Faith-Based sex scandal

which he inherited from President George W. Bush when he appointed Ms Darling as President/CEO

of his Faith Based creation, The Onestar Foundation of Texas in 2009." Id. at

6.

Having reviewed the Complaint and the file as a whole, the Court can discern absolutely no
meritorious basis upon which former President George W. Bush could be named as a defendant in
this lawsuit. Moreover, even were Scott to name former President Bush as a defendant, a federal

judge need not recuse himself from every case involving the President who appointed him. See, e.g.,
Armenian Assembly of Am., Inc.

v.

Cafesjian, 783 F. Supp. 2d 78, 93 (D.C. Cir. 2011) ("The case

law is clear that recusal is not warranted where a judge is alleged to be biased based solely on

political connections to the President who appointed [him]."); United States

Gordon, 974 F.2d

v.

1110, 1114 (9th Cir. 1992), overruled on other grounds by United States v. Bagdasarian, 652 F.3d
1113 (2011) ("It is not reasonable to suspect that Judge Rafeedie's ability to preside impartially

would be affected by the fact that President Reagan appointed him."). A federal judgeship is a lifetenured position, and federal judges take an oath to "faithfully and impartially discharge and perform
all duties.

. .

under the Constitution and laws of the United States." 28 U.S.C.

§

453. As the D.C.

Circuit has noted, Justices Ginsburg and Breyer, both Clinton appointees, participated in Clinton v.

Jones, 520 U.S. 681 (1997), and Chief Justice Burger and Justices Blackmun and Powell, all Nixon
appointees, participated in United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 (1974). In re Executive Office of
the President, 215 F.3d 25, 25-26 (D.C. Cir. 2000). Consequently, the Court finds Judge Yeakel

need not recuse himself from this case.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that the Motion to Recuse [#6] is DENIED; and
IT IS FiNALLY ORDERED that the above-styled and numbered cause is

TRANSFERRED to the Austin Docket of the Honorable Lee Yeakel, United States District
Judge.
-2-

SIGNED this the

47day of February 2015.

7'l?d47VVi1
SAM SPARKS
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

11

mot recuse den ba.wpd