Powell v. King County

6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE SONIA POWELL, Case No. C19-929 RSM Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION TO RECUSE 11 v. KING COUNTY, et al., Defendants.

This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiff Sonia Powell’s Motion to Recuse. Dkt.

16 #14. Ms. Powell states that, in one of her prior cases, the undersigned judge issued an order to show cause and eventually determined that venue was improper or that the Court lacked jurisdiction. Id. at 2 (citing Powell vs. The City of Pasco et al., Case No. 2:16-cv-00648-RSM).

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 455(a), a judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality “might reasonably be questioned.” Federal judges also disqualify themselves in circumstances where they have a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding. See 28 U.S.C. § 455(b)(1). However, “a judge's prior adverse ruling is not sufficient cause for recusal.” United States v. Studley, 783 F.2d 934, 939 (9th Cir. 1986); see also Taylor v. Regents of Univ. of Cal., 993 F.2d 710, 712 (9th Cir. 1993) (“To warrant recusal, judicial bias must stem from an extrajudicial source.”).

As the Court reads Ms. Powell’s Motion, she is relying solely on this Court’s prior adverse ruling in an unrelated matter as evidence of bias. This is insufficient to warrant recusal. See Studley, supra; Taylor, supra. Ms. Powell presents no reasonable basis to question impartiality. Accordingly, the undersigned judge declines to voluntarily recuse himself.

Having reviewed the relevant briefing and the remainder of the record, the Court hereby finds and ORDERS: 9 1. Ms. Powell’s Motion to Disqualify (Dkt. #14) is DENIED.

2. In accordance with LCR 3(e), this Order is referred to the Honorable Benjamin H. Settle, the senior active judge in this District, for review of this decision. The 13 Clerk is directed to provide a copy of this Order to Judge Settle.

14 DATED this 1st day of November 2019.

A 17 RICARDO S. MARTINEZ CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE