Recuses, Recuses

I find the word “recuse” poignant. It seems weighty, official–perspicacious rather than apologetic. “Excuse me” sounds as if there is something to be pardoned, even if that is not necessarily so. A little like pleading the Fifth Amendment. But if I am asked to perform a task of consequence and I “recuse myself” because there might be a conflict of interest or the appearance of one, then I am an exceedingly responsible citizen.

Judges sometimes recuse themselves to avoid the slightest suspicion of partiality, as viewers of television’s myriad court programs know. And jurors are often disqualified if something in their lives might elicit bias in their determinations. “The plainti...