Jared Fogle Requests Judge's Recusal, Field Trip
The former Subway pitchman turned social pariah, Jared Fogle, has filed a motion requesting Judge Tanya Pratt recuse herself from his case. The longshot motion is not only not likely to go anywhere, it has no bearing on his conviction or length of his sentence, as those appeals have already been taken and squashed.
In short, Fogle incredulously claims that Judge Pratt is biased against him because she has teenage daughters and Fogle's case involves convictions for child pornography with teen girls and for sex with teens as well. But at this point, Judge Pratt likely has little jurisdiction over Fogle's case and incarceration.
A Day Outside the Institution
And before you ask why or what in the hell: Yes, Fogle is representing himself at this point as his appeal was already rejected by the Seventh Circuit in 2016, and again in 2017 when he claimed sovereign citizenship. Though Fogle has asked SCOTUS to take up his case, that's about as likely as Judge Pratt actually recusing herself.
Notably, Fogle wasn't completely wrong about the judge being a mom, but she only has one daughter, and she hasn't been teenaged for several years at this point. Given Fogle's logic, it's almost surprising that he didn't also claim bias due to the judge's gender.
Field Trip for Fogle
As a local attorney pointed out, this motion is as frivolous as they come, and likely won't do more than get Fogle a field trip to get yelled at by Judge Pratt for wasting time and resources (if even that). However, it is a relatively common practice for inmates who feel the burning desire to get out of the institution for a day or so.
Filing any motion with the court, even a frivolous one, can potentially entitle an inmate to be temporarily transported to the court for their motion hearing. While it's no day-pass, getting outside of a prison, even for just a few hours and even while wearing chains, is often enough to motivate inmates to file frivolous motions.
Related Resources:
- Jared Fogle's Pitch for Mercy Fails at the 7th Circuit (FindLaw's U.S. Seventh Circuit Blog)
- Jared Fogle's Latest Pitch: A Plea for a Shorter Sentence (FindLaw's U.S. Seventh Circuit Blog)
- Former Subway Ad Man Jared Fogle Pleads Guilty to Child Porn and Sex Charges (FindLaw's Celebrity Justice)