Washington v. United States of America

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JASON LEVETTE WASHINGTON,

Case No. 23-cv-00447-JST (RS) Plaintiff, 11 v. ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR RECUSAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, et al., 13 Defendants.

Plaintiff Jason Levette Washington filed a motion to recuse Judge Jon S. Tigar from this action. Washington asserts Judge Tigar “demonstrated an unreasonable bias or prejudice” against him, improperly disregarded evidence, cannot be impartial in this action due to having a close relationship with another (unspecified) Defendant, and is politically biased. Dkt. 6, at 2. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is denied. A party may move to recuse a judge from presiding in a given case. Motions to recuse fall under two statutory provisions, 28 U.S.C. § 144 and 28 U.S.C. § 455. Section 144 provides for recusal where a party files a timely and sufficient affidavit averring that the judge before whom the matter is pending has a personal bias or…