Cascone v. FosterCascone v. Foster
The petitioner, John Cascone, is a practicing attorney. He seeks a writ of prohibition to challenge a judge‘s decision to vacate a standing recusal order. We conclude that the recusal order did not establish any right that could be enforced by the petitioner. Accordingly, we hold that the trial court was not obligated to keep the order in effect and we deny the pеtition.
Attorney Cascone asked Judge Robert Foster to recuse himself in all cases in which he appeared as counsel. When the judge declined, Cascone filed a motion captioned “In re: Robert M. Foster” and styled as a “Motion to Recuse.” The motion was filed with thе clerk of the court, but not in a particular case. In the motion, Cascone allegеd that Judge Foster disliked him and was biased against him. He recounted a conversation in November 1999, in which Judge Foster had allegedly implied that Cascone‘s wife was seeing another man.
Without commenting on the truth of this accusation, Judge Foster granted Cascone‘s
The outcome of the case is controlled by the supreme court‘s decision in Ginsberg v. Holt, 86 So.2d 650 (Fla.1956). There, a lawyer filed a suit for an injunction to prevent a trial judge from considering any of his cases. The supreme court affirmed a dismissal of the complaint for the following reason:
There is no provision in the statutes or the decisions for a blanket decree restraining a particular judge from hearing all cases in which a particular attorney may appear in his professional capacity as an officer of the court and we unreservedly decline to introduce such a novel and revolutionary procedurе.
Id. at 651-2. The court restated this principle in Livingston v. State, 441 So.2d 1083 (Fla.1983), and emphasized the point with the categorical warning that “a lawyer‘s request for a general disqualification will not be granted.” Id. at 1085.
It is important to note that Ginsberg and Livingston serve as a limitation on the right to obtain a generаl disqualification order, and not on the authority of the court to determine on its own that recusal is warranted in a class of cases. A trial judge may wish to give the court clerk instructions not to make assignments in cases filed by certain lawyers, for example to avoid all casеs in which a close relative appears as counsel of record. However, а judge‘s decision to order recusal administratively in a class of cases is a professional decision that creates no right on the part of a lawyer or a litigant. A party who fеars that a judge is biased may file a motion to disqualify the judge under
Cascone argues that, even though he may not have been entitled to the standing recusal order, the trial judge was bound to follow it once it was entered. In support of this argument, he relies on the general principle that a judge who enters an order of disqualification may not take any further action in thе case. See
For these reasons, we conclude that the petitioner Cascone has no legal right to challenge Judge Foster‘s decision to vacate the standing recusal order. If the petitioner believes that Judge Foster should not preside over a case, he may file a motion for disqualification under
Petition denied.
JOANOS and WEBSTER, JJ., CONCUR.