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Flores: Disclose reasons for recusing from Torres’ case
Marissa Renee Flores
Rep. Marissa Renee Flores (Ind-Saipan) has asked that all CNMI Superior Court judges to disclose their specific reasons for recusing themselves from the pending criminal case against former governor Ralph DLG Torres.
Specifically, Flores said that CNMI law may allow judges and justices to recuse themselves without citing any reason but these recusals “incur substantial delay in significant cases and prevent the public from having cases heard by local elected officials.”
All CNMI Superior Court judges recently recused themselves from hearing a lawsuit filed by former governor Ralph DLG Torres against the Department of Finance and the Office of the Attorney General that challenged the hiring of special prosecutor James Kingman.
In a letter to CNMI Supreme Court Chief Justice Alejandro C. Castro dated yesterday, July 17, 2023, Flores acknowledged that, while the Commonwealth Code provides a specific process for announcing a recusal of a judge or justice, it does not consistently require the judge or justice to identify in detail the factual basis for the recusal. She said this creates a situation wherein there is no review of the decision to recuse and inconsistent disclosure of the reasons for recusal.
Flores, who chairs the House Committee on the Judiciary and Governmental Operations, said she is “concerned about this pattern of recusal that is not subject to review or disclosure.” In line with this, she is asking all those who have recused themselves to disclose their specific reasons.
Her letter was also sent out to Superior Court Presiding Judge Roberto Naraja.
Saipan Tribune tried to obtain comments from the CNMI Judiciary yesterday, but was told no one was willing to go on record.
Saipan Tribune archives show that Superior Court Presiding Judge Roberto Naraja and associate judges Joseph N. Camacho, Teresa Kim-Tenorio, Kenneth Govendo, and Wesley Bogdan have all recused themselves from hearing Torres’ suit.
With this, Torres’ petition is left without a local judge to hear it. This means that, like Torres’ ongoing criminal case, the CNMI Supreme Court will have to appoint a non-CNMI judge to hear the matter.
