All federal judges in Tucson have taken themselves off the case of Jared Loughner, who shot several persons on Arizona last week, including Gabrielle Giffords and Federal Judge John M. Roll. A move which was somehow expected within the legal community to guarantee the court will not be impacted from their personal acquaintance with their deceased colleague, Judge Roll.
A brief order filed today (1/12/2011) by Judge Raner Collins, on behalf of the other Tucson federal judges and magistrate judges, said,
"[I]n order to avoid the appearance of impropriety, and because a judge has a duty to disqualify him or herself if his or her impartiality could be reasonably questioned, whether or not such impartiality actually exists, this Court must recuse itself."
Judy Clarke, Loughner's defense lawyer, has been notified by a court clerk that if she wants to claim that every federal judge in Arizona should also be disqualified, she must file a motion promptly.
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