More women accuse US judge of sexual conduct
san francisco — Nine more women accused a prominent US appeals court judge of subjecting them to inappropriate sexual conduct or comments, The Washington Post reported on Friday.
The latest allegations against Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals go back decades and include women who met him at events, according to the newspaper. The accusations include inappropriate touching and lewd comments.
Leah Litman, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, said that the judge talked about having just had sex and pinched her side and leg at a restaurant the night before they appeared together on a panel at her school in July.
Christine Miller, a retired US Court of Federal Claims judge, said Kozinski grabbed her breasts during a car ride in 1986 after a legal community function in the Baltimore area. She said it came after she declined his offer to go to a motel and have sex.
A lawyer who was not identified said Kozinski approached her when she was alone at a legal event in Los Angeles in 2008 and kissed her on the lips and gave her a bear hug with no warning.
The newspaper said the woman’s husband confirmed the incident and said the couple didn’t think they could do anything because of the judge’s position.
Kozinski said in a statement through an attorney that many of the things being said about him were not true but he deeply regretted that his “unusual sense of humor caused offense or made
The judge talked about having just had sex and pinched her side and leg at a restaurant.” Leah Litman
Kozinski grabbed my private parts during a car ride in 1986 after a legal community function.’ Christine Miller
anyone uncomfortable.”
“I have always tried to treat my male and female clerks the same,” he said. The Post reported last week that six former clerks or more junior staff members accused Kozinski of inappropriate behaviour, including showing them pornography.
Kozinski, 67, was chief judge of the 9th Circuit, the largest federal appeals court circuit in the country, from 2007 to 2014. He is known for his irreverent opinions.
The 9th Circuit has opened a misconduct inquiry that was transferred to the Judicial Council of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. —