Benshoof v. Admon et al

Filing 41

ORDER. Plaintiff's 39 Motion for Disqualification of Judge Jamal Whitehead is DENIED. Signed by Judge Tana Lin. (MJV)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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CASE NO. 2:23-cv-01392-JNW

KURT BENSHOOF,
v.

Plaintiff,

ORDER ON MOTION FOR RECUSAL

MOSHE ADMON et al.,
Defendants.

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This is a pro se civil rights action against numerous defendants. This matter is before the

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Court on Plaintiff Kurt Benshoof’s Motion for Disqualification of Judge Jamal Whitehead (Dkt.

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No. 39) after an order of referral by Judge Whitehead (Dkt. No. 40). Having reviewed the

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relevant record, the Court DENIES the motion.
I.

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BACKGROUND

The factual background and procedural history of this matter are largely recounted in

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Judge Whitehead’s order on Plaintiff’s motions for a preliminary injunction and thus will not be

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repeated here. See Dkt. No. 38 at 2–5. In sum, Plaintiff’s complaint “spans 280 pages, contains
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over 1,000 paragraphs in its statement of facts, and includes over 2,000 pages in attachments.”

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Id. at 2; see Dkt. No. 9 (complaint). Plaintiff “appears to allege Defendants violated his due

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process rights during multiple legal proceedings in Seattle Municipal Court and King County

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Superior Court.” Id. Related issues include “family law cases” and “the implementation and

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enforcement of COVID-19 mask mandates.” Id. at 2–3.

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On October 31, 2023, Judge Whitehead denied Plaintiff’s motions for a preliminary

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injunction and granted leave to amend the complaint. See id. at 5–16. On November 1, Plaintiff

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filed the instant motion for “disqualification” of Judge Whitehead. See Dkt. No. 39. On

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November 3, Judge Whitehead declined to voluntarily recuse and referred the motion to this

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Court for decision. See Dkt. No. 40 at 2–4.
II.

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LEGAL STANDARD

Local Civil Rule (“LCR”) (3)(f) requires a challenged judge to review motions filed

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pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 144 or 28 U.S.C. § 455 and to determine whether to recuse voluntarily.

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LCR 3(f). If the challenged judge declines to recuse voluntarily, they must direct the court clerk

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to refer the motion to the chief judge for their review. Id. If the motion is directed at the chief

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judge, or if the chief judge (or their designee) is unavailable, the clerk must refer the motion to

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the active judge with the highest seniority. Id.

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28 U.S.C. § 455(a) provides that a judge of the United States “shall disqualify himself” in

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any proceeding in which their “impartiality must reasonably be questioned.” The statute further

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provides that the judge must recuse “[w]here he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a

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party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding.” 28

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U.S.C. § 455(b)(1). Similarly, 28 U.S.C. § 144 requires recusal when “a party to any proceeding

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in district court makes and files a timely and sufficient affidavit that the judge before whom the

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matter is pending has a personal bias or prejudice either against [them] or in favor of any adverse
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party.” The standard for recusal under both statutes is the same—“[w]hether a reasonable person

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with knowledge of all the facts would conclude that the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be

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questioned.” United States v. McTiernan, 695 F.3d 882, 891 (9th Cir. 2012) (internal quotation

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marks omitted). “The alleged prejudice must result from an extrajudicial source; a judge’s prior

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adverse ruling is not sufficient cause for recusal.” United States v. Studley, 783 F.2d 934, 939

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(9th Cir. 1986); see also Liteky v. United States, 510 U.S. 540, 555 (1994) (“[J]udicial rulings

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alone almost never constitute a valid basis for a bias or partiality motion.”).
III.

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DISCUSSION

As an initial matter, this motion is before this Court because Chief Judge David Estudillo

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is a named Defendant in this matter and is thus “unavailable.” LCR 3(f); see Dkt. No. 9.

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Therefore, this Court will decide the motion.

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Plaintiff seeks recusal on two grounds: “mental incompetence” and “bias.” Dkt. No. 39 at

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4–5. But Plaintiff offers no extrajudicial evidence for any such findings. Instead, Plaintiff

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devotes nearly half of his motion to rearticulating his arguments for a preliminary injunction and

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offering point-by-point rebuttals to Judge Whitehead’s order on his motions. See id. at 2–4. The

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asserted grounds for recusal are cast in the same mold: Plaintiff asserts, without specific

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allegations or evidentiary support, that Judge Whitehead’s adverse order must be evidence of

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mental incompetence or bias. See id. at 4 (arguing that “any judge so brazen as to openly

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disregard the clear and dispositive requirement” of a case “suffers from a form of mental

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incompetence”), 5 (arguing that “it is self-evident that [Judge] Whitehead’s biases or prejudices

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. . . are so extreme as to attempt to undue sixty year of Civil Rights law”).

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The Court agrees with Judge Whitehead’s refusal to recuse himself. As Judge Whitehead

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observed in his order declining to recuse, “[Plaintiff] merely offers conclusory statements and

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fails otherwise to show actual grounds for incompetence or personal bias.” Dkt. No. 40 at 3. The
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crux of Plaintiff’s motion appears to be a disagreement with Plaintiff’s interpretation of Hamm v.

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City of Rock Hill, 379 U.S. 306 (1964). See Dkt. No. 39 at 3. But “prior adverse judicial rulings

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are ‘not sufficient cause for recusal.’” Major v. Wash. State Dep’t of Corr., No. C23-5307, 2023

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WL 6556257, at *1 (W.D. Wash. Sept. 5, 2023) (quoting Studley, 783 F.2d at 939). Without

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more, recusal is inappropriate in this case.

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IV.

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CONCLUSION

Accordingly, Plaintiff’s Motion for Disqualification of Judge Jamal Whitehead (Dkt.
No. 39) is DENIED.
Dated this 14th day of November 2023.

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A

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Tana Lin
United States District Judge

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