Idealogical is not the same as religious, correct?

 

Could be. I think Ideological ideas could be formed from any of a number of outside influences, including Religious and Political.

Has he recused himself?

 

I have not researched that yet. However, the implication here is that the offer of recusal in cases where faith could be conflicting, was made in order for his confirmation to be affirmed.

Absolutely not. Every judge, in every case, at every level, will bring ideologies, biases, and personal ethics into his or her decision-making process. It is completely inevitable. If we decline to believe that a judge can interpret the law as it stands in spite of those biases, then we're abandoning the notion of what a judge is there to do. The common law is entirely dependent upon it; criminal and civil procedure are dependent upon it; even the operation of a paternity docket on a Tuesday morning in Jefferson County Family Court is dependent upon it.

 

The revolution of American Legal Realism in the 20th century was not that we ought to recognize these ideological leanings and use them as a basis to disqualify ourselves or others, but to understand how those biases work and see them in ourselves to understand those decisions and, hopefully, make ourselves better jurists.

Absolutely not. Every judge, in every case, at every level, will bring ideologies, biases, and personal ethics into his or her decision-making process. It is completely inevitable. If we decline to believe that a judge can interpret the law as it stands in spite of those biases, then we're abandoning the notion of what a judge is there to do. The common law is entirely dependent upon it; criminal and civil procedure are dependent upon it; even the operation of a paternity docket on a Tuesday morning in Jefferson County Family Court is dependent upon it.

 

The revolution of American Legal Realism in the 20th century was not that we ought to recognize these ideological leanings and use them as a basis to disqualify ourselves or others, but to understand how those biases work and see them in ourselves to understand those decisions and, hopefully, make ourselves better jurists.

 

Ba-da-boom!