Disqualification

A judge might, under certain circumstances, not be permitted to continue in a case because there is an appearance of impropriety. For instance, in one case, one of the parties’ attorneys was that judge’s “preferred judge pro tempore” (i.e., when the judge was not able to work, this attorney was the judge’s substitute). In that instance, even though there was no actual bias, the Court of Appeals felt it was best to do so in order avoid the appearance of impropriety.