Anti-abortion Arizona Supreme Court judge refuses to recuse himself from abortion case
Well, at least we know how one vote is going to go when the Arizona Supreme Court decides whether to reinstate a 1864 abortion ban that includes prison time for providers.
Virulently anti-abortion Justice Bill Montgomery says he won’t recuse himself from the case.
In a statement Monday to Capitol Media Services, Montgomery said that all parties in the case “are entitled to a fair and impartial adjudication of the legal issues presented.”
And he said the “underlying subject matter” — abortion — is irrelevant.
He added, “As with any other case involving an issue I may have previously taken a position on while serving as an executive branch official, I will consider the facts and the law to determine the merits of any legal argument presented without regard for any prior position and without passion or prejudice. My oath of office requires no less.”
What Arizona code says about impartiality
That’s true.
Also true is that Arizona’s Code of Judicial Conduct has some pretty important requirements.
For example, it says under “disqualification” that “a judge shall disqualify himself or herself in any proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned … .”
How anti-abortion zealots: Could secure state abortion rights
On the subject of abortion, Montgomery’s impartiality doesn’t need to be questioned.
It does … not … exist.
Montgomery has trashed Planned Parenthood
Montgomery said in the past that Planned Parenthood (whose lawyers are arguing against reinstating the 1864 law) “is responsible for the greatest genocide known to man.”
At a protest in front of Planned Parenthood’s offices a few years back, he said, “Today’s protest calls for several specific goals. We call for Congress to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood. There is no reason to fund this charade of women’s health care any longer. The profit-driven atrocities must end and America must not fund them anymore.”
There are many more examples.
The funny/not funny thing about Arizona’s Code of Judicial Conduct is that the judge himself gets to decide if his “impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”
He gets to decide if he is impartial?
That, unfortunately, requires a reasonable judge.
Instead, we have Montgomery, who says we need not worry about his impartiality.
He told Capitol Media’s Howard Fischer, “Concerns about my ability to be independent, act with integrity, and decide cases impartially have been addressed in matters I have participated in over the last four years.”
Yeah, sure.
Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Anti-abortion judge says he will rule in abortion case
