330c9085efae4498930ce7e7db88858140The chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, who posted sexually explicit photos and videos on the Internet, has been admonished but not punished further by a panel of his peers.
In a 41-page order made public Thursday, the Judicial Council of the Third Circuit found that Alex Kozinski had exhibited poor judgment and created a public controversy that resulted in embarrassment to the institution of the federal judiciary.
However, Kozinski did not intend to present the explicit material as a Web site open to public browsing, the panel said. He also explained and admitted his error, apologized for it, recognized its impact on the judiciary and committed to changing his conduct to avoid any recurrence of the error.
“We determine that the judge’s acknowledgment of responsibility together with other corrective action, his apology, and our admonishment, combined with the public dissemination of this opinion, properly conclude this proceeding,” Judge Anthony J. Scirica wrote for the unanimous 11-member panel.
The dispute goes back to June 2008, when the Los Angeles Times reported that Kozinski, who was presiding over an obscenity trial at the time, maintained a Web site that included a photo of naked women on all fours painted to look like cows, a video of a half-dressed man cavorting with a sexually aroused farm animal and a graphic step-by-step pictorial in which a woman is seen shaving her pubic hair.
In response to the article, Kozinski immediately declared a mistrial in the obscenity case, recused himself and requested that the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit initiate proceedings. A couple of days later, the matter was transferred to the Judicial Council of the Third Circuit.
Kozinski, who cooperated in all aspects of the ensuing investigation, testified that he and his son had connected the family server to the Internet in 2002 as a way to access personal files while away from home.
He said he thought the Web site was for his private storage and that he was not aware the images could be seen by the public. He added that he did not visit and had no interest in pornographic Web sites.
In its order, the Third Circuit panel admonished Kozinski for possession of the sexually explicit material combined with his carelessness in failing to safeguard his sphere of privacy.
The panel pointed out, for example, that Kozinski became aware in 2007 that the offensive material could be accessed by members of the public, but he still failed to take proper corrective action.
“Through a combination of improper security configuration and carelessness on the part of the judge, the aggregation of retained files became accessible to the public,” the panel wrote.
It added, however, that the sexually explicit materials constituted only a small fraction of the items Kozinski had collected, including video clips from television shows, court filings, cartoons and song parodies.
Some conduct, it said, is legally defensible but judicially imprudent.
A special committee charged with investigating Kozinski was assisted by attorneys from Dechert LLP and Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.
The judge was assisted by an attorney from Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
The case is In Re: Complaint of Judicial Misconduct, case number 03-08-90050, before the Judicial Council of the Third Circuit.109502002009/08/02 00:00No Punishment For Judge Who Posted Racy Material Thursday, Jul 02, 20092009/07/022009/07/02732009/07/021The chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, who posted sexually explicit photos and videos on the Internet, has been admonished but not punished further by a panel of his peers.