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Stern v. Supreme Judicial Court for Massachusetts
Citations: 16 F. Supp. 2d 88; 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12889Docket: Civil Action No. 98-10896-GAO
Court: District Court, D. Massachusetts; August 3, 1998; Federal District Court
The plaintiffs are seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent the enforcement of Supreme Judicial Court Rule of Professional Conduct 3.8(f), effective January 1, 1998, which is enforceable in both the Commonwealth courts and this Court through Local Rule 83.6(4)(B). Initially, the case was randomly assigned to District Judge O’Toole, who determined that his impartiality was not in question and saw no reason to recuse himself. The complaint challenges a disciplinary rule adopted by the Massachusetts bar and raises legal questions regarding the authority and interpretation of the Court's Local Rules, which is a standard matter for judicial decision without necessitating recusal under 28 U.S.C. § 455(a). However, the plaintiffs later expressed concerns about the viability of suing the "United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts." To address this, they moved to amend the complaint to include all active District Judges as individual defendants, a precedent supported by the case Whitehouse v. United States District Court for District of Rhode Island. The motion was granted, leading to Judge O’Toole becoming a named defendant. This situation invoked the mandatory disqualification provisions of § 455(b)(5)(i), which requires a judge to recuse themselves if they are a party to the proceeding. Unlike the more subjective standards of § 455(a), the criteria in § 455(b) are clear-cut and do not allow for waivers from the parties involved. Consequently, Judge O’Toole recused himself from the case, along with the other defendant District Judges.