Order on Motion to Recuse — United States v. Nathan Reardon (D. Me., Dkt. 214)

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Order on Motion to Recuse, filed October 2, 2024 as Document 214, Case 1:21-cr-00061-LEW, United States v. Nathan Reardon, District of Maine. It states that Defendant, proceeding pro se, seeks the judge's recusal in a Letter Motion (ECF No. 210) citing 28 U.S.C. § 455(a) and 455(b)(1). It states that the request rests heavily on adverse rulings, curtailment of access to firearms, and a temporary prohibition against self-employment during supervised release, and not on evidence capable of causing a reasonable person to believe the judge harbors a personal bias. Because there is no legal basis for recusal the Motion is DENIED. It is signed /s/ Lance E. Walker, Chief U.S. District Judge.

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Case 1:21-cr-00061-LEW Document 214 Filed 10/02/24 Page 1 of 2                 PageID #: 1411




                          UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

                                  DISTRICT OF MAINE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,                  )
                                           )
                                           )
       v.                                  )              No. 1:21-cr-00061-LEW
                                           )
NATHAN REARDON,                            )
                                           )
                     Defendant             )

                          ORDER ON MOTION TO RECUSE
       Defendant Nathan Reardon, proceeding pro se, seeks my recusal in this matter.

(Letter Motion, ECF No. 210.) Defendant believes my recusal is called for because my

decisions concerning his detention and the terms of his release have been unnecessarily

harmful to him, his family, and his livelihood, and because, at his resentencing, I described

him as a narcissist even though there was no such diagnosis in evidence.

       Federal law provides that a judge “shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in

which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” 28 U.S.C. § 455(a). A judge must

also recuse when he harbors a “personal bias or prejudice concerning a party.” Id. §

455(b)(1).

       “The proper test … is whether the charge of lack of impartiality is grounded on facts

that would create a reasonable doubt concerning the judge’s impartiality, not in the mind

of the judge [] or even necessarily in the mind of the litigant filing the motion …, but rather

in the mind of the reasonable [person].” Panzardi-Alvarez v. United States, 879 F.2d 975,

983 (1st Cir. 1989) (quoting United States v. Cowden, 554 F.2d 257, 265 (1st Cir. 1976)).
Case 1:21-cr-00061-LEW Document 214 Filed 10/02/24 Page 2 of 2              PageID #: 1412




“Prior adverse rulings alone cannot, of course, be the basis for a motion to recuse.” Id. at

984. Furthermore, a judge has a duty not to recuse . . . if there is no objective basis for

recusal.” In re United States, 441 F.3d 44, 67 (1st Cir. 2006).

        Defendant’s request for recusal rests heavily on the issuance of adverse rulings,

curtailment of his access to firearms, and a temporary prohibition against self-employment

while he serves out the term of his supervised release. Defendant’s request does not rest

on an accusation of my partiality toward the government, nor evidence capable of causing

a reasonable person to believe that I harbor a personal bias against him. The sentencing

rulings that have so upset Reardon have been imposed as a consequence of his conduct and

behavior (including a road rage incident involving a gun, violation of the conditions of

release, and the underlying fraud that informs the indictment), not personal bias or

prejudice. Because there is no legal basis for recusal the Motion is DENIED. (ECF No.

210).

        SO ORDERED.
              Dated this 2nd day of October, 2024.


                                          /s/ Lance E. Walker
                                          Chief U.S. District Judge




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