Federal judge 'excoriated and mocked counsel,' 9th Circuit says; he is booted from a fourth case
A federal judge in Nevada had no jurisdiction to grant a motion for summary judgment after the parties stipulated to dismissal, a federal appeals court has ruled.
The judge, Robert Clive Jones of Reno, was tossed from the settled case in a March 2 nonprecedential order (PDF), Trial Insider reports. It’s the fourth time the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has removed Jones from a case, according to the blog. In a fifth case, the appeals court warned Jones about animosity toward out-of-state lawyers.
The latest order stems from a suit filed in 2012 by the organizers of the Burning Man arts festival in Nevada. The suit alleged that county officials tried to impose fees and regulations on visitors that violated the First Amendment, according to earlier coverage by the Reno Gazette-Journal and the Associated Press. The event permits nudity as a form of self-expression.
In the Burning Man case, the appeals court said, Jones “excoriated and mocked counsel” in a hearing where he “offered lengthy criticisms of the settlement agreement despite counsel’s repeated statements that the parties were not seeking the court’s approval.”
During the hearing, “Jones noted his own laughter on the record, repeatedly lobbed accusations of malpractice, described counsel’s comments as ‘mealy-mouthed’ and suggested that counsel return to law school,” the appeals court said in a footnote.
The appeals court referred to prior problems and listed the cases in a footnote. “We have in the past expressed concern over the district court’s handling of a number of cases that have reached this court,” the 9th Circuit said, “and we unfortunately must do so again here.”
In the most recent of those cases, the appeals court booted Jones from a high-profile Nevada grazing-rights case. The 9th Circuit said Jones had displayed bias against the federal government and “grossly abused the power of contempt.”
After the grazing case, Jones announced that he was taking senior status.
Hat tip to How Appealing.
