From Dfinity Found. v. N.Y. Times Co., decided today by Judge Lewis Kaplan (S.D.N.Y.):
This is a defamation case against The New York Times, two of its reporters, and others. The plaintiff, allegedly a Swiss foundation, moves to recuse the undersigned on the ground that his spouse, whom he married in 2004, was a reporter for the The New York Times from 1969 to 1979 and in-house media counsel to the prominent publisher, Random House, "through the year 2000." {The plaintiff omits the fact that she was an Assistant United States Attorney in this district from 1979 until 1983.} It contends that recusal is warranted under 28 U.S.C. § 455(a) because the "impartiality [of the undersigned] might reasonably be questioned" on that basis. {While plaintiff has not mentioned the fact, though it long has been a matter of public record, the Court notes also that his spouse receives pension payments from the Newspaper Guild NY - NY Times pension plan and a pension plan for the benefit of retirees of Random House, Inc.}
As the Second Circuit repeatedly has made clear, recusal under Section 455(a), insofar as relevant here, is required only where "a reasonable person, knowing all the facts, would conclude that the trial judge's impartiality could reasonably be questioned." It has made clear also, moreover, that "to say that § 455(a) requires concern for appearances is not to say that it requires concern for mirages."
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