Benshoof v. Admon

Opinion

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3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 7 KURT BENSHOOF, CASE NO. 2:23-cv-1392 8 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S 9 MOTION FOR RECUSAL AND v. TRANSFER OF VENUE 10 MOSHE ADMON, DANIEL 11 AUDERER, JUSTIN BOOKER, FREYA BRIER, CITY OF SEATTLE, NATHAN 12 CLIBER, ZACHARY COOK, BENJAMIN COOMER, ANITA 13 CRAWFORD-WILLIS, JENNY DURKAN, JAMES ERVIN, DAVID 14 ESTUDILLO, MARSHALL FERGUSON, MICHAEL FOX, COREY 15 FOY, AMY FRANKLIN-BIHARY, WILLIAM GATES, III, STEVEN 16 GONZALEZ, TYLER GOSLIN, WILLIE GREGORY, OWEN HERMSEN, JAY 17 INSLEE, DAVID KEENAN, GABRIEL LADD, DANIEL LENTZ, MAGALIE 18 LERMAN, MARY LYNCH, SARAH MACDONALD, ANTHONY 19 MARINELLA, RICARDO MARTINEZ, BRADLEY MOORE, KATRINA 20 OUTLAND, JESSICA OWEN, PCC NATURAL MARKETS, KYLE 21 REKOFKE, STEVEN ROSEN, BLAIR RUSS, UMAIR SHAH, SPROUTS 22 FARMERS MARKET, MICHAEL THURSTON, JARED WALLACE, and 23 SANDRA WIDLAN, 1 Defendants. 2

3 1. INTRODUCTION 4 Plaintiff Kurt Benshoof requests that this Court recuse itself from this 5 matter, citing 28 U.S.C. § 455(a)(b)(1). Dkt. No. 39 at 1. Because the Court’s 6 impartiality cannot be reasonably questioned, the Court DENIES Benshoof’s motion 7 to voluntarily recuse, and REFERS the matter to United States District Judge Tana 8 Lin for review under Local Civil Rule 3(f).

9 2. BACKGROUND 10 Benshoof argues for “disqualification” based on “mental incompetence” and 11 “biases or prejudices against [his] free exercise of his religious beliefs[.]” Dkt. No. 39 12 at 4-5. Benshoof argues the Court demonstrated incompetence and bias when it 13 denied his motion for a preliminary injunction and “knowingly and willfully 14 disregarded the clear holding of Hamm v. City of Rock Hill, 379 U.S. 306 (1964)[.]” 15 Id. at 2, 4. Benshoof moves for “immediate disqualification” and “if there is no judge

16 within the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington who is not 17 infected with the woke mind virus,” he requests that his case be transferred to the 18 U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. Id. at 5. 19 3. DISCUSSION 20 3.1 The Court denies Benshoof’s motion for recusal. 21 If a party moves to recuse under 28 U.S.C. § 144 or 28 U.S.C. § 455, “the

22 challenged judge will review the motion papers and decide whether to recuse 23 voluntarily.” LCR 3(f). A federal judge must disqualify themself in any proceeding 1 in which their “impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” 28 U.S.C. § 455(a). 2 Further, recusal is required when a party files a “timely and sufficient affidavit that

3 the judge before whom the matter is pending has a personal bias or prejudice either 4 against [them] or in favor of any adverse party.” 28 U.S.C. § 144. The standard for 5 recusal under both statutes is the same—“[w]hether a reasonable person with 6 knowledge of all the facts would conclude that the judge’s impartiality might 7 reasonably be questioned.” United States v. McTiernan, 695 F.3d 882, 891 (9th Cir. 8 2012) (internal quotation marks omitted). “[A] judge’s prior adverse ruling is not

9 sufficient cause for recusal.” United States v. Studley, 783 F.2d 934, 939 (9th Cir. 10 1986); see also Liteky v. United States, 510 U.S. 540, 555 (1994) (“[J]udicial rulings 11 alone almost never constitute a valid basis for a bias or partiality motion.”). 12 “If the challenged judge decides not to voluntarily recuse, [they] will direct 13 the clerk to refer the motion to the chief judge, or the chief judge’s designee.” LCR 14 3(f). “If the motion is directed at the chief judge, or if the chief judge or the chief 15 judge’s designee is unavailable, the clerk shall refer it to the active judge with the

16 highest seniority.” Id. 17 Here, Benshoof is dissatisfied with the Court’s Order denying his motions for 18 preliminary injunction and granting leave to amend his complaint. See Dkt. No. 38. 19 But Benshoof merely offers conclusory statements and fails otherwise to show 20 actual grounds for incompetence or personal bias. The Court finds no basis for 21 recusal as no reasonable person could question this Court’s impartiality. Thus, the 22 undersigned will not recuse himself voluntarily from this case. 23 1 Ordinarily, the Court would refer this matter to the chief judge, but Chief 2 Judge David G. Estudillo is Defendant in this matter. Accordingly, the Court refers

3 this matter to the active judge with the highest seniority, United States District 4 Judge Tana Lin. 5 3.2 The Court denies Benshoof’s motion to transfer. 6 Generally, there are two distinct grounds for changing venue. Courts may 7 transfer a case if the plaintiff filed it in an improper venue. 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). 8 Alternatively, transfer may occur in the interest of justice where the chosen venue

9 is inconvenient to the parties and witnesses. 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). “[T]he transferee 10 court must be a proper venue and must have personal jurisdiction over the 11 defendant.” 15 Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Fed. Prac. & Proc. § 3845 12 (4th ed. 2023). See also 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) (permitting transfer of an action to 13 another district “where it might have been brought.”); 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a) 14 (permitting transfer to any district “in which it could have been brought.”). 15 Benshoof does not object to the Western District of Washington as an

16 improper venue nor does he claim it inconveniences the parties. Instead, he appears 17 to express dissatisfaction with the venue based on perceived bias—specifically, 18 rejecting any judge who has been “infected with the woke mind virus[.]” Dkt. No. 39 19 at 5. Moreover, Benshoof does not show the Eastern District of Washington would 20 be a proper venue for this action. Therefore, the Court DENIES Benshoof’s request 21 to transfer.

22 23 1 4. CONCLUSION 2 Accordingly, the undersigned DECLINES to recuse voluntarily. Benshoof’s

3 motion to recuse, Dkt. No. 39, is REFERRED to United States District Judge Tana 4 Lin for decision. The Court also DENIES Benshoof’s motion to transfer venue. 5 6 Dated this 3rd day of November, 2023. 7 A 8 Jamal N. Whitehead United States District Judge 9

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