Judge Alex Kozinski admonished for posting sexually explicit material

Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, was admonished by a panel of his colleagues, in a report made public today, for posting sexually explicit material on a publicly accessible Internet server.

“We find that the judge’s possession of sexually explicit offensive material combined with his carelessness in failing to safeguard his sphere of privacy was judicially imprudent,” said the report by Anthony J. Scirica.

The panel, headed by Scirica, found that Kozinski allowed such material to remain on the Internet, even after discovering that it could be accessed by the public.

The panel admonished Kozinski for “exhibiting poor judgment ... [that] created a public controversy that can reasonably be seen as having resulted in embarrassment to the federal judiciary.”

Because Kozinski offered an apology and took “corrective action,” the judges ruled that the disciplinary proceeding should end with an admonishment.

The Los Angeles Times reported on the existence of the site last year while Kozinski was presiding over a federal obscenity trial. He declared a mistrial in the wake of the public controversy that ensued.

-- Scott Glover

Photo: L.A. Times file

Comments

[basementfrog]

Good Grief. And he keeps his job? Many lesser folks have lost the state and federal jobs for even looking at the stuff while at work, let alone displaying it.

What a pack of filth. Top to bottom. They are probably all into it.

[M Realty]

I really dont care if a judge looks at porn, but that was a really really terrible idea to put his own on servers for distribution (even if it was an accident). Very unwise there buddy.

[robert]

I am far more concerned with judges that hold loyalties to companies that help finance their campaigns then this sillyness. it isnt the job of the court system to poke their noses into peoples (yes even judges or any member of our government) personal lives. Whats next, are we going to start impeaching people for having affairs. Oh Wait, we already did.

[Judicial System is Corrupt and Degraded]

You mean judges won't hold another judge accountable? Shocking!

You mean all you gotta do is say 'oops, my bad' and you're good?

This guy is off his nut and clearly has NO judgment.

This explains why so many judges in Los Angeles are psychotic and totally unsuited for the bench.

As with lawyers, the foxes are guarding the henhouse. Judges will not discipline other judges. Makes one wonder what sleazy activities the panel is up to.

[Obtuse]

Oh, yeah, admonishment is enough. Justice for the well-connected strangely seems to be different than for others.

[Media Scatter]

This just goes to show that the only thing you can do to get more than a slap on the wrist from the 9th circuit is to lawfully vote in favor of a reasonable proposition.

[Ed]

Let's talk forthrightly here. He wasn't just found to have sexually explicit photos on his website. It was alleged that he was hosting illegal bestiality photos from his website. This was heavily reported when the story first broke, but the news media is now giving it a white wash. If it had been any other citizen found to be hosting said photos, then he would be sitting behind bars. One has to wonder what kind of influence the judge used to clear himself?

[Justice wasn't served]

It's more of a 'you scratch my back, I will scratch yours' kind of deal. Its good that he has 'friends' that will give him little or no consequence to his actions.

[Carolyn Bongiorno]

L.A. Law.

And the Michael Jackson case should expose L.A. Medicine.

[Robert Lambert]

Our state is in a fiscal crisis and going to hell in a handbasket and this is your front page story?

No wonder so many hardworking people despise your newspaper.

[andy]

No wonder the 9th Circuit Court is the laughing stock of the Country. Here we have a chief justice who exhibited such poor judgement and they find him "judicially imprudent". Give me a break, the guy exhibited such poor judgement he is not fit to be a judge. Such deviate behavior by one holding such office deserves his impeachment.

[hadenough]

The pretense is judges are of the highest ethical values. But, remember they are political appointees being rewarded for past or future promised political support. There are no job perfromance standards, no ratings, nothing. They are not held accountable for their actions on or off the bench. They concoct rulings to support their political agendas and stuff your money in the pockets of their friends. Why should this case be any different?

[Anthony Mariano]

Why is he not being prosecuted? They have no problem prosecuting teenagers for far less. Only in America.

[DonT Matter]

I think he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law including being disbarred these judges etc are no better than anyone else doing the same thing & should be punished accordingly.

[Adam Jones]

Whitewash is now completed.

[Geno64]

How come the judge gets away with a crime? and any one else doing that would have to register as a sex offender.

[L Martinez]

Who paid for the mistrial? Me and you.

[brobin]

Well, he was admonished for failing to secure his private server. He was cleared of misconduct. The LA Times was admonished as well, for mischaracterizing the facts of the case. Which it continues to do.

[Valerie from Oregon]

It amazes me when people that say they despise the LA Times constantly go on-line to read it. I guess were just a nation waiting to be offended.

[momo23]

I personally know Judge Kozinski and he is a great guy. He made a mistake like all of us do. He shouldn't be registered as a sex offender because it was not material with minors in it. It never should have happened, but he made a mistake and life moves on.

[Publius]

And some of you may sit on jury duty. We're all doomed.

[Jeff]

Wasn't it the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that declared Proposition 187 unconstitutional? So that Kangaroo court's chief judge posts sexually explicit material and can be inferred to be a pervert yet his court says its ok for millions of illegal aliens to pillage this country? I am the only person here that see's just a slight disconnect from reality on the part of 9th Circuit Court of Appeals?

[mark]

No-one thinks highly of the 9th circuit anyway...

[Nicolas Martin]

brobin is right. The court cleared the judge of misconduct -- which the Times doesn't report -- and castigated the media -- of which the Times was the worst example. The Times retains its reputation as the worst big city paper in the country.

[Kevin]

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is the single most reversed court in American history and that is solely based upon the extreme liberalism and judicial activism.

The Democratic party guards the 9th with jealous protection because without the justices who don't seem to remember the decisions they made a day earlier and decide differently day to day, there would be no way to advance the Democratic agenda of extreme liberalism. This is the same court that attempted to turn the clock back to the 60s with ridiculous Miranda vs Arizona decisions and their complete lack of respect for stare decisis led them to try and screw up search and seizure laws. Fortuately the U.S. Supreme Court also laughs at the 9th and they set things right again.

Almost all of the bad decisions coming from the 9th are rendered in 3 judge panels because left-wing attorneys can shop for judges and get them to empanel a unanimous decision in their favor, even if it flies in the face of reason. If every case was presented to the full body of judges there would be much greater balance with much fewer reversals, but that's not what the 9th is there for. It exists solely to create new law and policy and advance the causes of every left-wing group that considers themselves a victim of something somewhere by someone who challenged their opinion. Having this judge remain on the bench is not really a problem since it was just usual run of the mill computer porn and without that exposure and judicial temperment the entire porn industry in the San Fernando Valley would have imploded years ago. So at least they actually stand fomr something reasonable...