Six Ex-Staffers Hit Prominent Appeals Court Judge With Sexual Misconduct Allegations (VIDEO)

A former law clerk for well-connected Judge Alex Kozinski, who served as chief judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit for several years, is alleging that he frequently called her into his office and pulled up pornography on his computer, The Washington Post reports. Then he would ask her if she thought it was photoshopped or if it aroused her.

Staffers Allege The Judge Victimized Them

And the pornography was not related to any case, said Heidi Bond, who worked as a law clerk for Kozinski from 2006 to 2007. She remembers one rather odd image in particular. It featured a group of college students who were at a party where:

“…Some people were inexplicably naked while everyone else was clothed.”

Another image allowed people to mix and match heads, torsos, and legs to create the image of a nude woman.

His actions left Bond traumatized. She said:

“I was in a state of emotional shock, and what I really wanted to do was be as small as possible and make as few movements as possible and to say as little as possible to get out.”

And Bond isn’t the only former staffer who feels this way. She’s been joined by five other women who allege they were forced to deal with this.

Emily Murphy, another former clerk, recounted an incident in which she was at a legal reception in San Francisco with Kozinski. He revealed he was imagining her naked, Raw Story reports.

She was standing with several other clerks at the reception and they were discussing various workout regimens. Murphy commented that she liked the gym in the 9th circuit courthouse because few people used it.

That’s when Kozinski, according to Murphy as well as a few other people who talked to the Post, kept saying that she should workout naked since the gym was so quiet. The group kept trying to steer him away from that, but he wasn’t easily deterred.

“It wasn’t just clear that he was imagining me naked, he was trying to invite other people — my professional colleagues — to do so as well,” she said. “That was what was humiliating about it.”

The Post contacted a spokesman for Kozinski to let him know what allegations the story would include, and in response, the judge issued a namby-pamby statement:

“I have been a judge for 35 years and during that time have had over 500 employees in my chambers. I treat all of my employees as family and work very closely with most of them. I would never intentionally do anything to offend anyone and it is regrettable that a handful have been offended by something I may have said or done.”

And in an interview with The Los Angeles Times he had this to say:

And in an interview with The Los Angeles Times he had this to say:

“I don’t remember ever showing pornographic material to my clerks,” adding that “if this is all they are able to dredge up after 35 years, I am not too worried.”

He’s not too worried, eh? Seems to me that what these women have “dredged up” are painful memories of feeling marginalized, persecuted and being cornered like prey. And some suffered in silence for years. So maybe he’s “not too worried” but these women aren’t holding back anymore. But the heads of some pretty prominent men have been rolling lately, so maybe Kozinski should be worried.

And the word of his disrespectful behavior definitely went round:

Now the whole mess is blown wide-open.

You go girls!

In the video below, Kozinski talks about “forgiveness” in the criminal justice system.

https://youtu.be/icUPo-7pUDc

Featured image by The Charles Koch Institue via YouTube video.