In Re Alan Bernard Linda Bernard, Debtors. Alan Bernard Linda Bernard v. Jeffrey C. Coyne, Chapter 7 Trustee Clement Sheaffer Mary Sheaffer

ORDER

The parties to this appeal are the Ber-nards, debtors in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding pending in the Central District of California; creditors Clement and Mary Sheaffer; and Jeffrey C. Coyne, the Chapter 7 trustee. The central question presented in the case (which will not be answered here) is whether the trustee’s objection to certain exemptions claimed by the debtors was timely-

Shortly after oral argument on June 8, 1994, the Bernards filed a motion asking that I disqualify myself under 28 U.S.C. § 455 , based on the fact that I am married to Marcy J.K. Tiffany, who is the United States Trustee for the Central District of California.

1. Who Rules on the Motion?

The initial decision whether or not to sit in a case rests with the individual judge. Under the canons of judicial ethics, every judicial officer must satisfy himself that he is actually unbiased toward the parties in each ease and that his impartiality is not reasonably subject to question. To assist judges in carrying out this bias-check the parties are required to list those entities that have an interest in the case. See Fed.R.App.P. 26.1 & advisory committee’s note. For the same reason, judges must…