Opinion ID: 1843606
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: The Appearance of Judicial Bias

Text: Judge Reese recused himself from further consideration of this case after the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission determined that his use of the case in a campaign for a seat on this Court created the appearance of a conflict of interest. While I believe that the decisions of Judge Greenhaw have ratified the decisions of Judge Reese and thereby removed any taint from his orders, the sequence of events is too important for understanding the outcome in this case not to retell them. A case that has a direct application to Judge Reese's conduct is United States v. Cooley, 1 F.3d 985 (10th Cir.1993). In Cooley, a federal judge had issued an injunction against defendants blocking abortion clinics. The defendants continued to block abortion clinics and were convicted in that federal judge's court for interfering with the performance of United States marshals, who were attempting to keep the clinic open. The circuit court reversed the convictions on the grounds that the district judge had disqualified himself by making remarks on Nightline, a television news program. The program aired after the defendants had been arrested and before their trial. The court stated that under 28 U.S.C. § 455(a): A judge has a continuing duty to recuse before, during, or, in some circumstances, after a proceeding, if the judge concludes that sufficient factual grounds exist to cause an objective observer reasonably to question the judge's impartiality. 1 F.3d at 992. (Emphasis added.) The conduct of Judge Reese went far beyond going on television and commenting on the case before him. Judge Reese's campaign commercials and literature in his race for a Supreme Court seat stated that he was a judge for education reform and that he was a tough judge who became famous for ruling Alabama's education system unconstitutional and telling a Governor and the Legislature to fix the problem. Judge Reese's commercials stated that he had the courage to stand up to a Governor and rule Alabama's education system unconstitutional and that he order[ed] the Legislature back to work when they wanted to delay education reform. The campaign conduct of Judge Reese draws into question the impartiality of the entire judicial proceedings in this case. In its opinion of August 18, 1995, the Judicial Inquiry Commission of the State of Alabama concluded that the campaign conduct of Judge Reese indicat[ed] a reasonable basis for the appearance of partiality, and that his disqualification was required. One of the ways the main opinion avoids the issue of Judge Reese's judicial bias is by stating that the Liability Phase and the Remedy Phase were not accompanied by conduct evidencing actual bias. However, Judge Reese repeatedly refused to allow the Pinto class to intervene, and it was this refusal that created the circumstance of having no adverse parties before the trial court after Governor Folsom replaced Governor Hunt. Judge Reese denied the Pinto class the opportunity to present evidence at the fairness hearing on the Remedy Plan held on November 18, 1993. The Pinto class was a party that has indicated it would have directly challenged Reese's order. He also appeared at an event at which he was publicly honored for his ruling. The event was sponsored by a party to the pending litigation. In 1993, prior to the entry of the Remedy Order, Judge Reese attended the Alabama PTA 1993 annual convention in Huntsville. Dr. Wayne Teague, a party defendant/plaintiff and State Superintendent of Education, introduced Judge Reese, read excerpts from his Liability Order, and praised both to a standing ovation. The Birmingham News article reporting the event stated: `I feel like I'm giving a book review before the author,' Teague told Reese who, in an unusual move for a presiding judge in an ongoing case, had agreed earlier in the week to appear before the convention as its honored guest. Then Teague proceeded to read aloud passages from the ruling, stopping along the way to praise particular sections as well as Reese. Twice the crowd of about 300 parents broke applause for not only a certain passage but for an increasingly uncomfortable-looking, although grateful Reese. When Teague was finished he asked the audience to show its appreciation for the ruling and for Reese. They enthusiastically responded with a standing ovation which visibly moved the judge but also made him visibly uneasy. Birmingham News, April 17, 1993, p. 1A. The PTA actively campaigned for the implementation of the proposed remedy plan. Judge Reese campaigned and commented on this case during the 1994 race, at the same time he was overseeing this litigation. This created the appearance that this case was a political tool Judge Reese manipulated to his advantage. The main opinion explains away Judge Reese's use of this case as a campaign tool by saying that the motion for recusal was not made until after the campaign activities. However, the only reason a recusal motion was not made earlier was Judge Reese's refusal to allow a truly adverse party to intervene in this case. Once adverse parties appeared before Judge Reese, they moved for recusal. The lack of a motion for recusal is evidence of his bias, not an excuse for absolving him of his improper conduct in this case. Judge Reese issued his liability order on March 31, 1993, and his remedy order on December 3, 1993, before his campaign commercial was aired. This does not mean that his campaign conduct was irrelevant. If not for Judge Greenhaw's ratification of the orders, his conduct would still taint them because it is reasonable to believe that he used the case for a planned future campaign. The commercial, viewed by any reasonable person, gives the appearance that his motive in issuing the orders was to aid him in his planned race for the Alabama Supreme Court. The orders were tainted by the fact that it appears he was campaigning for office when he issued his orders and by the manner in which he issued them.