Opinion ID: 63555
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Motions to Recuse

Text: Stringer filed motions to recuse both the district court judge and the magistrate judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 144 and 455. Both judges denied the motions to recuse, although the district court judge’s denial was implicit in the final judgment dismissing the action. See Norman v. Apache Corp., 19 F.3d 1017, 1021 (5th Cir. 1994); see also Webber v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 200 Fed. App’x 335, 337 (5th Cir. 2006) (unpublished) (“The denial of the recusal motion was implicit in the entry of final judgment dismissing the complaint.”) (citation omitted). We review denials of motions to recuse for abuse of discretion. Andrade v. Chojnacki, 338 F.3d 448, 454 (5th Cir. 2003). Under § 455, a federal judge “shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” 28 U.S.C. § 455(a). A judge must also disqualify himself under various circumstances enumerated in § 455(b). See id. § 455(b). Under § 144, a judge must reassign a case when a party “makes and files a timely and sufficient affidavit that the judge before whom the matter is pending has a personal bias or prejudice either against him or in favor of any adverse party.” Id. § 144; see Davis v. Bd. of Sch. Comm’rs, 517 F.2d 1044, 1051 (5th Cir. 1975) (“[T]he judge must pass on the legal sufficiency of the affidavit, but may not pass on the truth of the matters alleged.”) (citations omitted). 1 Stringer’s notice of appeal does not mention the orders denying the motions for recusal, but we will review those orders as sufficiently related to the final judgment. See Trust Co. of La. v. N.N.P. Inc., 104 F.3d 1478, 1485 (5th Cir. 1997) (“[A]n appeal from a final judgment sufficiently preserves all prior orders intertwined with the final judgment.”). 3 No. 08-60265 The facts stated in Stringer’s affidavits are not legally sufficient to support a recusal motion under either recusal statute. Therefore, the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying the motions to recuse.