Judge Ryan Nelson of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed on Thursday to recuse himself from a case challenging the Biden administration’s Gaza policy. As The Intercept reported, Nelson in March was part of a judicial delegation to Israel, which was sponsored by the World Jewish Congress.
The plaintiffs — a mix of Palestinian human rights organizations, Palestinian nationals, and Palestinian Americans — claimed the trip’s ideological framing made it improper for Nelson to participate in the case. Oral argument is scheduled for June 10, and plaintiffs filed an emergency recusal motion on Tuesday.
“Appellants have moved to disqualify me from participation in this case based on my attendance at a judicial education conference in Israel in March,” Nelson wrote in a brief order. He disputed the merit of plaintiffs’ allegations of potential impartiality.
“This case against top U.S. officials for aiding and abetting Israel’s genocide raises issues of utmost importance,” said Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents the plaintiffs, “and the appearance of fairness is paramount given the stakes.”
I don’t think it should be up to judges to recuse or not. We should have an independent panel or council of civilians oversee that.
Based on the existing elected and appointed panels, I don’t think we can trust that to act in the interest of justice all the time.
I wish we had something like an express vote of no confidence giving a majority of a quorum of citizens the power to remove any federal employee. They should need a quorum of signatures to trigger a vote at all to help prevent abuse. Like a fourth branch of government.
The current system of judges choosing if they are biased or not is obviously broken, you’re absolutely right about that.