Section 455. Disqualification
of justice, judge, or magistrate
judge
(a) Any justice, judge, or magistrate
judge of the United States shall disqualify
himself in any proceeding in which
his impartiality might reasonably
be questioned.
(b) He shall also disqualify himself
in the following circumstances:
(1) Where he has a personal bias or
prejudice concerning a party, or personal
knowledge of disputed evidentiary
facts
concerning the proceeding;
(2) Where in private practice he served
as lawyer in the matter in controversy,
or a lawyer with whom he previously
practiced law served during such association
as a lawyer concerning the matter,
or the judge or such lawyer has been
a material witness concerning it;
(3) Where he has served in governmental
employment and in such capacity participated
as counsel, adviser or material witness
concerning the proceeding or expressed
an opinion concerning the merits of
the particular case in controversy;
(4) He knows that he, individually
or as a fiduciary, or his spouse or
minor child residing in his household,
has a financial interest in the subject
matter in controversy or in a party
to the proceeding, or any other interest
that could be substantially affected
by the outcome of the proceeding;
(5) He or his spouse, or a person
within the third degree of relationship
to either of them, or the spouse of
such a person:
(i) Is a party to the proceeding,
or an officer, director, or trustee
of a party;
(ii) Is acting as a lawyer in the
proceeding;
(iii) Is known by the judge to have
an interest that could be substantially
affected by the outcome of the proceeding;
(iv) Is to the judge's knowledge likely
to be a material witness in the proceeding.
(c) A judge should inform himself
about his personal and fiduciary financial
interests, and make a reasonable effort
to
inform himself about the personal
financial interests of his spouse
and minor children residing in his
household.
(d) For the purposes of this section
the following words or phrases shall
have the meaning indicated:
(1) ''proceeding'' includes pretrial,
trial, appellate review, or other
stages of litigation;
(2) the degree of relationship is
calculated according to the civil
law system;
(3) ''fiduciary'' includes such relationships
as executor, administrator, trustee,
and guardian;
(4) ''financial interest'' means ownership
of a legal or equitable interest,
however small, or a relationship as
director,
adviser, or other active participant
in the affairs of a party, except
that:
(i) Ownership in a mutual or common
investment fund that holds securities
is not a ''financial interest'' in
such securities unless the judge participates
in the management of the fund;
(ii) An office in an educational,
religious, charitable, fraternal,
or civic organization is not a ''financial
interest'' in securities held by the
organization;
(iii) The proprietary interest of
a policyholder in a mutual insurance
company, of a depositor in a mutual
savings association, or a similar
proprietary interest, is a ''financial
interest'' in the organization only
if the outcome of the proceeding could
substantially affect the value of
the interest;
(iv) Ownership of government securities
is a ''financial interest'' in the
issuer only if the outcome of the
proceeding could substantially affect
the value of the securities.
(e) No justice, judge, or magistrate
judge shall accept from the parties
to the proceeding a waiver of any
ground for disqualification enumerated
in subsection (b). Where the ground
for disqualification arises only under
subsection (a), waiver may be accepted
provided it is preceded by a full
disclosure on the record of the basis
for disqualification.
(f) Notwithstanding the preceding
provisions of this section, if any
justice, judge, magistrate judge,
or bankruptcy judge to whom a matter
has been assigned would be disqualified,
after substantial judicial time has
been devoted to the matter, because
of the appearance or discovery, after
the matter was assigned to him or
her, that he or she individually or
as a fiduciary, or his or her spouse
or minor child residing in his or
her household, has a financial interest
in a party (other than an interest
that could be substantially affected
by the outcome), disqualification
is not
required if the justice, judge, magistrate
judge, bankruptcy judge, spouse or
minor child, as the case may be, divests
himself or herself of the interest
that provides the grounds for the
disqualification.
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