Another day, another government official is accused of sexual harassment. Next up is the ‘powerful,’ Judge Alex Kozinski of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
Washington Post reports:
A former clerk for Judge Alex Kozinski said the powerful and well-known jurist, who for many years served as chief judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, called her into his office several times and pulled up pornography on his computer, asking if she thought it was photoshopped or if it aroused her sexually.
Heidi Bond, who clerked for Kozinski from 2006 to 2007, said the porn was not related to any case. One set of images she remembered was of college-age students at a party where “some people were inexplicably naked while everyone else was clothed.” Another was a sort of digital flip book that allowed users to mix and match heads, torsos and legs to create an image of a naked woman.
Bond is one of six women — all former clerks or externs in the 9th Circuit — who alleged to The Washington Post in recent weeks that Kozinski, now 67 and still serving as a judge on the court, subjected them to a range of inappropriate sexual conduct or comments. She is one of two former clerks who said Kozinski asked them to view porn in his chambers.
If the question was about photoshopping, Bond said, she would focus on minor details of the image. If Kozinski asked whether the images aroused her, Bond said, she would respond: “No, this kind of stuff doesn’t do anything for me. Is there anything else you need?” She said she recalled three instances when the judge showed her porn in his office.
“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,” Bond told the Washington Post.
Another 9th Circuit clerk told the paper that during a dinner with Kozinski in “either late 2011 or early 2012,” the Judge “kind of picked the tablecloth up so that he could see the bottom half of me, my legs.”
Judge Kozinski explained the move saying, “I wanted to see if you were wearing pants because it’s cold out.”
“It made me uncomfortable, and it didn’t seem appropriate,” said the former 9th Circuit clerk. In February, the 9th Circuit ruled against President Trump’s travel ban.
“9th Circuit rules against Trump. Order blocking the #MuslimBan remains in place,” tweeted the Southern Poverty Law Center.
BREAKING: 9th Circuit rules against Trump. Order blocking the #MuslimBan remains in place. https://t.co/PIlloRS1V0 pic.twitter.com/dc9CgZxVIK
— Southern Poverty Law Center (@splcenter) February 9, 2017
The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to fully enforce the travel ban by residents from six radical regimes and failed states.
The travel ban applies to travelers from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. And officials from North Korea and Venezuela.
