The standard in this state—and, I would expect, in most others—is not whether a judge is actually biased. It is whether the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned. The appearance matters as much as the reality.

The consequences of a legal fight are not as immediate or as painful as crashing in a race, but they can be every bit as damaging: months of emotional strain, thousands of dollars spent, and in a family case, relationships with children and relatives left strained, sometimes beyond repair.