Opinion
3:23-cv-145-DPM
02-20-2024
CHRISTIAN CONSTRUCTION, INC. and JAMES C. PARNELL PLAINTIFFS v. HEATHER OWENS, Assistant City Attorney; MIKE MCQUAY, Code Enforcement; CITY OF JONESBORO, Municipality; and HAROLD COPENHAVER, Mayor, City of Jonesboro DEFENDANTS
ORDER
D .P. Marshall Jr. United States District Judge
I considered whether to recuse, but decided not to do so. Here was, and is, my thinking. First, Parnell's claim against Mayor Copenhaver was an official capacity claim-it ran against the City of Jonesboro, not against Copenhaver individually. Parnell did not allege that Copenhaver had any individual liability. Second, Parnell did not allege that Mayor Copenhaver had any direct or personal involvement in the removal of Parnell's property. The only allegation about him was that as mayor he was "responsible to make sure training is understood and up to date. Clearly it is not." Doc. 1 at 9. This general allegation is unremarkable; every mayor is like the captain of a ship. Third, the only legal issue as to Mayor Copenhaver was whether the judgment for Jonesboro in Parnell's earlier case about this same dispute barred his second suit against Jonesboro through Copenhaver as mayor. Doc. 24 at 3-4. It did. My impartiality in deciding that legal issue could not reasonably be questioned. 28 U.S.C. § 455(a). Motion to reconsider and recuse, Doc. 26, denied.
SO ORDERED.