A Utah judge who made national headlines for falsely claiming studies show children do better with heterosexual parents has recused himself.
A Utah state judge who ruled a one-year old girl should be placed with a foster family of heterosexual parents instead of her current same-sex parents has recused himself from the case.
Judge Scott Johansen last week reversed a decision he handed down that originally ordered the Utah Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) to remove a child from its foster parents because they are gay. That decision was temporary, and Johansen set two more court dates, one for November, and one for December.
But in response to the couple’s request that Judge Johansen recuse himself, April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce of Carbon County Monday afternoon got their wish.
Judge Johansen handed down a ruling stating “the Court disqualifies himself from this case,” according to Fox 13’s Ben Winslow.
Johansen had originally claimed he read studies that claimed children raised by same-sex couples do worse than those raised by heterosexual couples. The judge would not release or make public the studies.
He was also opposed by everyone involved in the case, including Hoagland and Peirce, the Utah DCFS, and even the child’s birth mother.
The case is far from over. Another judge will need to determine who will be allowed to foster the child. April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce are raising two other children, are licensed by the state to foster children, and want to adopt the young girl.
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