UTAH: Anti-Gay Judge Quits Adoption Case

The Utah judge who ordered a lesbian couple to surrender their baby has removed himself from the case. The Salt Lake Tribune reports:

Seventh District Juvenile Judge Scott Johansen signed an order Monday referring all pending matters in the case to the presiding judge of the district, Judge Mary Manley. Johansen’s disqualification comes amid a chorus of voices calling for sanctions after he cited unspecified research questioning the well-being of children raised by same-sex parents in the ruling. On Monday, the Alliance for a Better Utah asked the Utah Legislature to begin impeachment proceedings against Johansen and launched a Web-based petition on change.org. “If Judge Johansen wants to act like Judge Judy, then he should get a reality TV shot,” Josh Kanter, the founder and board president said in a news release. “Judge Johansen should be impeached and removed from office.”

On Friday the Human Rights Campaign filed a judicial ethics complaints against Johansen.

Colin Winchester, executive director of the commission, said Monday he could not confirm whether a complaint about Johansen had been filed, because those matters are private. The commission does have a process for investigating complaints, which includes up to five steps and can result in sanctions from the Utah Supreme Court, Winchester said. The process begins with an initial screening by commission staff and advances through each step only if complaints are substantiated, according to an explanation of the process on the commission’s website. Judges may face a variety of sanctions, including reprimand, censure, suspension and removal from office. On average, the complaint process takes about eight months, Winchester said.