Some of them may think it does, but it's not a given that all of them do. The outcome of this case has a direct bearing on the liberty of the judge hearing it, and that seems like a conflict of interest to me, not potentially, but certainly. There's a reason judges have the ability to recuse themselves, after all; I don't really think he'd interject deliberate bias, but I can't see how anyone could be completely objective about something that so directly bears on their own life. Hence the point others have raised: No matter what he decides the losing side will allege bias, taking it from "probable appeal" to "mortal lock. "