Je recuse

[Ronald Butters]

Wrong again. There is no difference between withdrawing oneself so as to avoid the appearance of bias and excluding oneself so as to avoid bias! My point was (and still is) that it does not merely mean "excuse oneself for whatever reason."

Moreover, one recuses oneself not so much to "avoid the appearance of bias" as to avoid the danger of bias.

Here is what the New Oxford American Dictionary says:

re•cuse  v. [trans.] challenge (a judge, prosecutor,
or juror) as unqualified to perform legal duties
because of a possible conflict of interest or lack of impartiality:
a motion to recuse the prosecutor.
  (recuse oneself) (of a judge) excuse oneself from a
case because of a possible conflict of interest or lack
of impartiality: the Justice Department demanded that
he recuse himself from the case.

Note that in the reflexive sense (which is the only one we have been talking about here) JL's "challenge someone as disqualified," is irrelevant.


On Oct 6, 2010, at 9:49 PM, Jocelyn Limpert wrote:

> Recuse does not mean exclude. It is to challenge someone as disqualified,
> especially because of interest or bias, or to withdraw oneself so as to
> avoid the appearance of bias.
> 

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