In re Boston's Children First

ON PETITION FOR A WRIT OF MANDAMUS This petition involves the difficult question of whether a sitting district court judge should have recused herself after commenting publicly on a pending matter. Because we find that it was, in this case, an abuse of discretion for the judge not to recuse herself based on an appearance of partiality, we grant the writ of mandamus. In so doing, we emphasize that such a grant in no way indicates a finding of actual bias or prejudice, nor does it suggest that the trial judge abdicated any of her ethical responsibilities.