Kuang-Bao Paul Ou-Young v. Patrick D. Robbins, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California denied two identical ex parte motions by pro se plaintiff Kuang-Bao Paul Ou-Young to disqualify the judge under 28 U.S.C. § 455(a). The court held that the plaintiff’s disagreement with a prior judicial ruling did not establish that the Court’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned, noting that judicial rulings alone almost never support recusal.

Holdings

1. Recusal was not required because no reasonable, well-informed, thoughtful observer with knowledge of the facts would conclude that the Court's impartiality might reasonably be questioned based solely on its prior judicial ruling.
2. The motions did not comply with the cited local-rule requirements because Civil Local Rule 3-14 concerns motions under 28 U.S.C. § 144, and Civil Local Rule 7-10 requires an ex parte motion to cite authority permitting ex parte relief, which the motions did not do.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Court's prior judicial ruling concerning judicial immunity created a reasonable basis to question the Court's impartiality under 28 U.S.C. § 455(a).
2. Whether the ex parte motions complied with the requirements of Civil Local Rules 3-14 and 7-10.

Disposition

other