The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 07:28 PM

Nine More Women Come Forward Accusing Ninth Circuit Court Judge Who Helped Block Trump Travel Ban Of Sexual Misconduct

A former chief judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has been accused by nine more women of subjecting them to inappropriate sexual conduct or comments, The Washington Post reported Friday.

The latest allegations against Judge Alex Kozinski 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, told the Post 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 U.S. 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 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 behavior, 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 and his clerks often win prestigious clerkships at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The 9th Circuit has opened a misconduct inquiry that was transferred Friday to the Judicial Council of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.