Posted on 10/28/2009 6:18:12 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A panel concludes its investigation of the 9th Circuit's chief judge after he says he has stopped e-mailing his 'gag list.' No action is taken against him.
Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, has apologized for having maintained an e-mail "gag list" in which he distributed crude jokes and other humorous material, according to an opinion made public Tuesday.
Kozinski was admonished earlier this year in a separate case for being "judicially imprudent" and "exhibiting poor judgment" by placing sexually explicit photos and videos on an Internet server that could be accessed by the public.
The opinion released Tuesday by the Judicial Council of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals said the investigation into the gag list was concluded after Kozinski said he had stopped e-mailing the jokes and "apologized for any embarrassment to the federal judiciary."
The panel took no action against the judge.
Kozinski distributed the jokes to friends and associates, including his law clerks, colleagues on the federal bench, prominent attorneys and journalists.
The jokes ranged from silly to politically oriented to raunchy.
The investigations into both the Internet server and gag list were launched after articles were published in The Times that detailed some of the contents of each.
The complaint about the e-mailed jokes was part of another complaint filed by a former court administrator who accused Kozinski and two other judges of disabling electronic sensors designed to track Internet use on court computers in the 1990s.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Should be a requirement for any judge who presides over a trial dealing with technology.
Good. Earlier articles suggested that he is a conservative, which is why they went after him.
Professional courtesy prevailed. I think some Rat “judges” have skeletons in their closets that would make this look lame. Thought it would have been more seemly for Kozinski to maintain the dignity of his post by using only personal accounts at home for such things, preferably under a pseudonym.
Lesser moratals usually get fired for this kind of nonsense.
The 9th circuit is a living embodiment of why we should get rid of elitist, un-elected, unaccountable black robed mandarin tyrants.
He is some conservatives’ favorite jurist, including some I have seen on FR.
Some conservatives need to challenge their assumptions regarding the judiciary, which has metastasized into an imperviously arrogant cadre of elitists who, being lawyers, consider themselves on a higher plane than the law.
Maybe somewhere somehow someone has gotten fired for that sort of stuff but most don't.
Yes. I haven’t actually seen what was sent, but probably not much different from the “I’d hit it” jokes here on FR.
As I said earlier, the only reason they went after him is because he’s the chief conservative on a bench full of liberals, so they’d love to get rid of him. Same reason why they blare headlines when a Republican sins, but ignore it when a Dem does the same thing.
At most this was an indiscretion, done privately, on his own time, and no connection to his judicial duties.
America used to be a country run by responsible adults. Now it is run by ideological busybodies, nattering nags, and prune-faced killjoys. Anyone who can’t appreciate a good joke is no one I’d want judging me, on any matter
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