Judge won't recuse himself from Arkansas judge's lawsuit [View all]

LITTLE ROCK — A federal judge is refusing to recuse himself from a lawsuit filed by a former colleague against Arkansas Supreme Court justices who disqualified him from death row cases.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen asked U.S. District Court Judge James Moody Jr. to step aside from the case. Moody refused on Thursday, saying he was confident he could live up to his judicial oath "to fairly and impartially preside over cases," the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

Griffen's lawsuit accuses the seven justices of violating state and federal laws by disqualifying him in April from presiding over cases involving the death penalty or Arkansas' lethal-injection protocol.

The disqualification came days after Griffen, also a Baptist minister, attended a prayer vigil outside the governor's mansion to oppose executions. Earlier that day, he blocked the use of an execution drug, halting the state's efforts to begin a series of executions.

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