Plan to shield US court staff from sexual abuse

Washington, Jan. 1: Chief Justice John Roberts unveiled a plan on Sunday to help shield US court employees from sexual harassment, acknowledging the judicial branch is “not immune” after a powerful appellate judge retired over misconduct allegations.

The top US Supreme Court justice has already tasked administrative office of US courts chief James Duff to review procedures to protect court employees from sexual misconduct, according to a memo released on Wednesday that also spelled out existing recourse.

Mr Duff said he was setting up a working group that would provide a report and recommendations by May 1.

The memo came just days after Alex Kozinski stepped down from his post at the influential San Francisco- based US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit after he was accused of inappropriate behaviour by at least 15 former clerks and staffers.

The Romanian- born Kozinski is the highestranking judiciary official ensnared in a swirling nationwide reckoning on sexual harassment and abuse, which has toppled a number of powerful men in entertainment, politics, business and the media.

And nearly 700 current and former law clerks had sent Roberts a letter seeking action to better handle sexual harassment in the workplace.

“Events in recent months have illuminated the depth of the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace, and events in the past few weeks have made clear that the judicial branch is not immune,” Roberts wrote in his 2017 State of the Judiciary Report.

“The judiciary will begin 2018 by undertaking a careful evaluation of whether its standards of conduct and its procedures for investigating and correcting inappropriate behaviour are adequate to ensure an exemplary workplace for every judge and every court employee.” Roberts said he expected Duff ’ s working group to “consider whether changes are needed ...”