Opinion ID: 6320188
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Request for Reassignment

Text: Mycroft has requested that this case be reassigned to a different judge. Federal appellate courts are vested with authority under 28 U.S.C. § 2106 to reassign a case to a different judge on remand. Liteky v. United States, 510 U.S. 540, 554 (1994). In determining if reassignment is appropriate, we consider whether the judge’s “impartiality might reasonably be questioned by the average person on the street who knows all the relevant facts of a case.” Sentis Grp., Inc. v. Shell Oil Co, 559 F.3d 888, 904 (8th Cir. 2009) (quoting In re Kan. Pub. Employees Ret. Sys., 85 F.3d 1353, 1358-59 (8th Cir. 1996)). This Court recognizes that not everything important or that influenced the district court’s decision comes through on the printed paged. We also recognize that the personalities of the parties and the lawyers have a significant impact on the way the litigation proceeds. There is little doubt that the parties and the lawyers are engaging in trench warfare. A review of court filings shows that both sides have engaged in the same sort of “scorched earth” tactics; yet an objective review of the record demonstrates a degree of antagonism against Mycroft that is higher than that being applied against Tumey. After the district court allowed Tumey, over Mycroft’s strenuous objection, to transform his motion for a temporary restraining order to a preliminary injunction on one hour’s notice, the court further fanned the flames during the hearing by sua sponte restricting Mycroft’s access to evidence, or lack thereof, connecting Mycroft to the unlawful conduct that took place. Again, over Mycroft’s objection, the court allowed testimony about the disputes between neighbors in Hawaii when the relevance, if any, of this testimony to the current litigation is marginal and tangential. The preliminary injunction that was ultimately issued went beyond the intended use of maintaining the status quo until the claims can be resolved. When Mycroft sought reconsideration of the preliminary injunction, specifically raising claims regarding -14- the breadth and restraint on speech and publication, the court dismissed, without analysis, Mycroft’s constitutional claims. Upon careful review of the record, while also acknowledging the frustrating conduct by the lawyers and the parties, we find this is a rare case in which the history, proceedings, and order reflect a sufficiently high degree of antagonism against Mycroft to warrant reassignment of the case on remand. See Sentis, 559 F.3d at 905. Because a reasonable person aware of all the circumstances and events that have transpired so far would harbor doubts about the judge’s impartiality, reassignment to a different judge is appropriate.