What should a female Solicitor General wear to the U.S. Supreme Court? It’s a hot-button issue. For some excellent analysis, see Dahlia Lithwick.

The topic of SCOTUS-appropriate attire for a Solicitrix General keeps coming up. It popped up yesterday in Solicitor General Elena Kagan’s interview with Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, at the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference in Monterey.

From an attendee (who stayed at the conference longer than we did; we left the day after our panel):

In case you are not here, David: the solicitor general was just asked what she will wear at the Court, and she declined to say. But Judge Kozinski followed up to ask — expressly on your behalf [David Lat fka Article III Groupie] — whether she would be wearing Jimmy Choos. She said “no,” because the heels are too high to stand in while she argues.

Thought you’d want to know this breaking fashion news!

Shoe groupies: a little bit more, after the jump.

Someone’s July 4th weekend is off to a good start. Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, has been cleared of misconduct by the panel of Third Circuit judges that was tasked with investigating him. As you may recall, Chief Judge Kozinski called for an investigation of himself, after it was revealed that he had a “website” — which wasn’t really a website, for reasons previously explained by the judge’s wife, Marcy Tiffany — containing some sexually explicit material.

The Third Circuit Judicial Council’s unanimous opinion, authored by Chief Judge Anthony Scirica, is available here (PDF). It was actually filed on June 5, but only made public today. It’s thorough and lengthy, weighing in at 38 pages, and describes in detail the extensive investigation conducted by the council (with the assistance of outside lawyers, from Dechert and Morgan Lewis, and a technology consultant).

To those with a deeper familiarity with the facts of the case, as opposed to just the headlines, Chief Judge Kozinski’s vindication is not surprising. The judge violated no law; rather, the “website” — actually just a private family file server, although imperfectly secured for a period of time, as explained in the opinion — was a personal matter unrelated to his judicial duties. To the extent that the (overblown) public controversy created a problem in an obscenity trial that Judge Kozinski was presiding over at the time, any problem was obviated when the judge recused himself. And let’s not forget that the whole controversy was originally kicked up by a disgruntled litigant, Cyrus Sanai, who tried peddling the story for months before someone finally bit — and who “has been targeting Kozinski for years,” as noted by Ted Frank.

So congratulations, Judge Kozinski, on putting this matter behind you. We look forward to catching up with you at the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference later this month.

A few updates and links, after the jump.

We always appreciate mentions of Above the Law in other publications (and we get annoyed when ATL isn’t given proper credit for breaking stories.). Here are a few recent shout-outs:

1. Chill of Salary Freezes Reaches Top Law Firms [New York Times]

We previously linked to Eilene Zimmerman’s article in Morning Docket, but in case you missed it, check it out here. An excerpt:

Although many associates are angry about the freezes, others are relieved, said David Lat, founding editor of AboveTheLaw.com, a blog about law firms and the profession.

“There is this sense that firms didn’t act prudently during the boom and now they are getting religion, and that it’s better late than never,” Mr. Lat said. “Many associates we have spoken to think the freeze probably saved jobs.”

2. Gauging the net worth [Legal Week]

This article, by Alex Aldridge, focuses primarily on the social networking and blogging scene over in the U.K., but there is some discussion of what’s going on here in the States:

[T]he US legal blogging community is a fascinating case study in itself, having grown up in the wake of the controversial lawyer message boards Greedy Associates. So influential did the irreverent site come as a means for junior lawyers to pass around information that they were regarded as playing a key role in the pay wars of 1999 and 2000, as news of tit-for-tat pay rises among US law firms raced around the web.

3. Obama re-takes oath of office at the White House [CNN]

The always-playful legal Web site Above the Law asked readers to answer an online poll. About 48 percent blamed Roberts, just 17 percent blame Obama, and 35 percent said yes to the statement, “They both sucked.”

4. Back to School with Professor (and Federal Appeals Judge) Alex Kozinski [American Lawyer]

A short write-up, by Ben Hallman, of our recent event at Columbia Law School, an interview with Chief Judge Alex Kozinski (9th Cir.).

Chill of Salary Freezes Reaches Top Law Firms [New York Times]
Gauging the net worth [Legal Week]
Obama re-takes oath of office at the White House [CNN]
Back to School with Professor (and Federal Appeals Judge) Alex Kozinski [American Lawyer]

If you missed our recent event with Chief Judge Alex Kozinski (9th Cir.) in Los Angeles, and if you’re here in New York, feel free to swing by Columbia Law School at around noon tomorrow:

A Judge in Full: Personality and Jurisprudence

When: Thursday, January 22, at 12:10 PM
Speakers: The Honorable Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge, Ninth Circuit; David Lat, Founder, Above the Law
Where: JG 106, Columbia Law School, 435 West 116th St. (at Amsterdam Ave.)
Cost: Free and open to the public. Lunch will be served.

Thanks to the Columbia Law School Federalist Society for hosting the event. We hope to see you tomorrow.

Update: If you missed the talk, here’s a write-up, from Ben Hallman of the American Lawyer.

A Judge in Full: Personality and Jurisprudence [Columbia Law School Federalist Society]

Earlier: Kozinski & Lat: The Podcast

While David Lat’s west coast rampage continues — he just finished speaking at UCLA — the good people from the Federalist Society furnished us with a podcast of Lat’s lunch talk yesterday with Chief Judge Alex Kozinski (9th Cir.).

If you weren’t able to make it yesterday, or you live in the part of the country that the Sun God Ra has marked for eternal suffering, check out the podcast below.

Update: A write-up of the talk is available here.

A Judge in Full: Personality and Jurisprudence [Federalist Society]
Ninth Circuit Judges Remain Collegial, Kozinski Says [Metropolitan News]

Sometimes readers complain that Above the Law focuses too much on the East Coast. Since our headquarters is here in New York, and since we lived in Washington from 2006 to 2008, we may have an East Coast bias.

But we do try to run a national legal news site. Even if we’re physically located in New York, wherever two or more lawyers are gathered in our name, there we are.

In recent months, we’ve been making a conscious effort to do more for the West Coast. For example, we’ve started posting — later in the day, to account for the time difference — material aimed at a West Coast / California audience.

And next week we’ll be in L.A., to participate in three events (all kindly sponsored by the Federalist Society). One is with a leading light of the federal judiciary, and another is with a top law professor/blogger. Here are the details:

1. A Judge in Full: Personality and Jurisprudence

When: Tuesday, January 13, 12 p.m. - 1 p.m.
Speakers: The Honorable Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge, Ninth Circuit; David Lat, Founder, Above the Law
Where: Omni Hotel, 251 South Olive Street, Los Angeles
MCLE Credit: One Hour
Cost: $38 if paid in advance; $40 if paid at the door. Public employees, students and law clerks may pay the discounted rate of $15.

2. Cocktail Reception with David Lat

When: Tuesday, January 13th, 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Where: Bel Air Bar and Grill, 662 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles
MCLE Credit: No. This will not be educational in the least — just gossip and booze.
Cost: Cash bar. Heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served. YUM.

3. How Bloggers Changed the Legal World

When: Wednesday, January 14, 12:45 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Speakers: Professor Stephen Bainbridge, Warren Professor of Law, UCLA; David Lat, Founder, Above the Law
Where: UCLA Law School, Room 1357
Cost: Free and open to the public. Lunch will be provided.

Please come to any or all of these events. We look forward to seeing you!

A Judge in Full: Personality and Jurisprudence [Federalist Society - Los Angeles Lawyers Chapter]
How Bloggers Have Changed the Legal World [Facebook]
Two Events / One Day with Chief Judge Kozinski and David Lat [Facebook]

A tipster asked us: “Did you catch this week’s Law & Order - SVU? The judge had to recuse himself because they found porn on his computer during the course of a porn-addiction case.”

Sound familiar? It may remind you of this recent case (although the L&O episode involved dolphins rather than donkeys).

More after the jump.

* No trial for you! New Hampshire’s Superior Court is shaving a month of jury trials off of next year’s calendar because of its budget crisis. [New York Times]

* 9/11 masterminds recant their guilty plea because they want the death penalty. [Washington Post]

* Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo is taking the leaders of L.A.’s largest gang to court. The twist? It’s a civil suit, seeking monetary damages on behalf of L.A. neighborhoods for “property damage, loss in property value, emotional distress, personal injury, medical expenses, and out-of-pocket expenses” [Los Angeles Times]

* Ten percent of UVA 2Ls have not found “summer internships” yet. Alumni suggest they head to Nashville or Denver. [Daily Progress]

* Embattled Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski is getting media attention again, for raunchy, politically-incorrect joke round-ups e-mailed out to friends, colleagues, journalists, lawyers and judges. Sadly, we were not on the Easy Rider Gag List distribution list. The jokes are kinda hilarious. [San Jose Mercury News]

* Five Blackwater guards charged with murder in killings of Iraqis. [Boston Globe]

Our last round-up of Supreme Court clerk hiring was published back in August, before the start of October Term 2008. Now that the justices are back in the country and back on the bench, they’re back to interviewing clerkship applicants.

Over at the Clerkship Notification Blog, there was buzz about Justice Stephen Breyer interviewing and hiring clerks for October Term 2009. That intelligence was correct. Here are his hires:

1. Christopher Fonzone (Harvard 2007 / Wilkinson)

2. Jennifer Nou (Yale 2008 / Posner)

Fonzone appears to be the “2007 Harvard grad” referenced in the comments. With Chris Fonzone and Jen Nou on board, Justice Breyer is all done for OT 2009. (We also hear that he’s started to hire for October Term 2010, but we have no details.)

Update (3:40 PM): We now know one of SGB’s hires for OT 2010:

Erika Myers (Stanford 2008 / Kozinski)

Interesting — although Chief Judge Kozinski is a big-time feeder, he tends to feed more to the right side of the Court. So he may be expanding his range as a feeder judge.

The updated list of Supreme Court clerks, with Fonzone and Nou and Myers added, appears after the jump.

In the interest of completeness, here are a few quick postscripts to stories that we previously covered in these pages, but didn’t get around to mentioning during the craziness of last week. They come from the National Law Journal and/or the WSJ Law Blog.

1. Judge Robert Somma: The cross-dressing former bankruptcy judge (at right), who resigned from the bench after a drunk driving arrest, has joined the bankruptcy practice of Posternak Blankstein & Lund, a midsize firm based in Boston, as senior counsel. [National Law Journal; WSJ Law Blog]

2. American Justice School of Law: This defunct Kentucky law school, which in 2007 was hit with a class action filed by some of its students, has filed for bankruptcy. [National Law Journal; WSJ Law Blog]

3. L’Affaire Kozinski: The panel of federal judges from the Third Circuit investigating Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski (at right) has retained Robert Heim, head of litigation at Dechert, to oversee the probe (which will be staffed by lawyers from Dechert and Morgan Lewis & Bockius). [National Law Journal; WSJ Law Blog]

4. University of Michigan’s Wolverine Scholars Program: Sarah Zearfoss, dean of admissions at UM Law, has defended the program against allegations that it’s an attempt to game the U.S. News rankings. She pointed out that the program is small, likely to result in the admission of just five to ten students (out of a class of 360), and that very few UM undergrads (about 200) would even be eligible for it. [WSJ Law Blog]

[Ed. note: This post is by MARIN, one of the finalists in ATL Idol, the “reality blogging” competition that will determine ATL’s next editor. It is marked with Marin’s avatar (at right).]

Legions of ATL readers waited with bated breath for the results of our wildly popular prior post. Without further ado, we present to you the offspring of our superstar attorney pairings:

[Ed. note: This post is by MARIN, one of the finalists in ATL Idol, the “reality blogging” competition that will determine ATL’s next editor. It is marked with Marin’s avatar (at right).]

From ergonomic wrist supports to dual computer monitors, law firms wring every ounce of productivity from the attorneys they haven’t axed (yet). But while firms close branch offices and fire scores of lawyers, we submit that the answer to the current economic slump isn’t merging firms - it’s merging people. Everybody knows that two lawyers are better than one. It’s time for firms to get both and pay half; time for attorney mating.

No more legions of staff attorneys or filibuster roll-calls. Say goodbye to team meetings that resemble the Last Supper. Through attorney mating, firms can combine, say, the skills of master litigators with those of corporate powerhouses in order to produce uberlawyers with the efficiency of ten Aeron chairs. Using genetic samples from parent attorneys and the latest in Photoshop technology, we’ll give you a sneak peak at the offspring of some of the most sought-after combinations.

Read more, after the jump.

We have. So, barring major new developments, we’re cutting back on our coverage of the controversy surrounding Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit. As we suggested yesterday, the story is petering out anyway; but if you’re still interested in following it, check out Patterico’s Pontifications, which has been offering excellent, wall-to-wall coverage.

Before we take our leave of this tale, here are a few notable links:

1. Judges Named To Head Kozinski Inquiry [AP]

This is the only real news to emerge since our last post. Chief Justice John Roberts, responding to Chief Judge Kozinski’s request for an investigation, has named five jurists to the investigatory panel: Chief Judge Anthony Scirica, Judge Marjorie Rendell, and Judge Walter Stapleton, of the Third Circuit; Chief Judge Harvey Bartle III (E.D. Pa.); and Chief Judge Garrett Brown Jr. (D.N.J.). This is a solid group of judges; expect their investigation to be thorough and proper.

2. Cyrus Sanai: Kozinski investigation “is part of a litigation strategy” [Overlawyered]

The Kozinski archenemy who tipped off the Los Angeles Times to the judge’s website — L.A. lawyer Cyrus Sanai, who has been feuding with the judge since 2005 — is a real piece of work. At Overlawyered, Ted Frank chronicles how Sanai has been benchslapped by numerous judges, both federal and state, at the trial and appellate levels. Sanai blames the mountain of adverse on rulings on bias. Frank writes:

One has much sympathy for Cyrus Sanai, who has suffered the extraordinary misfortune of four trial judges in three different jurisdictions who are biased against him, and that does not include the appellate judges like the Chief Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court, Gerry Alexander; Washington State Court of Appeals judges Marlin Applewick, Anne Ellington and William Baker; or Judge Kozinski on the Ninth Circuit, all of whom Sanai has accused of bias. We wish that a just result is reached in Sanai’s various appeals, and pray that a just result is reached if a California legal disciplinary body ever decides to investigate what biased judges have been saying about Sanai.

3. Who’s at Fault For the Kozinski Kerfluffle? [Simple Justice]

Scott Greenfield writes:

David Lat, who has feasted on unsubstantiated gossip at Above the Law as well as his blog dedicated to sifting the salacious from the judicious, Underneath Their Robes (where he blogged anonymously as Article III Groupie, or A3G as he came to be known), joins the chorus [of Kozinski defenders]. But does the former AUSA explain his sudden conversion? Isn’t this the guy who is first on line (and online) to publish a smear of any lawyer or judge? In fairness, Lat’s connection to Kozinski is well-known to his long-time followers, but the new reader would be left out in the cold.

As Greenfield suggests, we view our connection to Chief Judge Kozinski as very well-known, and therefore not worth belaboring. But if he wants some sort of formal disclosure, here it is.

Disclosure: We have a great deal of respect and affection for Chief Judge Kozinski, whom we consider a friend. He helped launch our blogging career with his support of our first foray into the blogosphere, Underneath Their Robes (started four years ago this month). Our coverage of him is biased. If you’d like to read harsh personal attacks upon Chief Judge Kozinski, you should look elsewhere.

Above the Law is an independent blog. Unlike MSM-sponsored blogs such as the WSJ or the BLT, ATL makes no claim to “objectivity.” Considering that we opine daily on all sorts of topics, in ways that would be unacceptable for pure news reporters to do, we don’t see how anyone could mistake ATL for an objective news source. But if you want an express disclaimer of objectivity, consider this it.

Finally, we’d like to clarify our views of the “Kozinski Kerfluffle,” as Greenfield aptly dubs it. Consistent with our general antipathy to privacy, we don’t entirely agree with observers who see what Sanai and the L.A. Times did as an egregious privacy violation. On this we agree with Ted Frank:

I don’t think I fully endorse Lessig’s view on this — accessing a directory on a public website may be slightly creepy, but it’s not the same as breaking and entering a house to peer inside the photo albums in the den; it’s not even at the level of obnoxiousness as a guest inspecting the medicine cabinets of a host’s bathroom.

What we do think, however, is that the whole matter has become completely overblown. All it shows is that federal judges enjoy the occasional dirty joke and have risque material on their computers — in other words, “they’re just like us.” Considering that we launched a blog devoted to this very proposition four years ago, we find it hard to get that excited about it now.

4. Defending Judge Kozinski, and Online Privacy [The Lede / NYT]

ATL gets a shout-out from Mike Nizza in the Lede, a New York Times blog, in this concise round-up of the latest developments.

Judges named to head Kozinski inquiry [AP]
Cyrus Sanai: Kozinski investigation “is part of a litigation strategy” [Overlawyered]
Who’s at Fault For the Kozinski Kerfluffle? [Simple Justice]
Defending Judge Kozinski, and Online Privacy [The Lede / New York Times]

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Chief Judge Alex Kozinski (scroll down)

The controversy surrounding Chief Judge Alex Kozinski is rapidly dissipating — and with good reason. He has recused himself from the Ira Isaacs obscenity trial, and he’s called for an investigation of any potential misconduct on his part. So, to quote his website, “Ain’t nothin’ here. Y’all best be movin’ on, compadre.”

We’ve read tons of Kozinski coverage (so you don’t have to). Here are three of the most important posts:

1. The wife of Chief Judge Kozinski has come to his defense, over at Patterico’s Pontifications:

My name is Marcy Tiffany. I have been married to Alex Kozinski for over thirty years and we have raised three sons together….. [T]he LA Times story, authored by Scott Glover, is riddled with half-truths, gross mischaracterizations and outright lies. One significant mischaracterization is that Alex was maintaining some kind of “website” to which he posted pornographic material.

Obviously, Glover’s use of the word “website” was intended to convey a false image of a carefully designed and maintained graphical interface, with text, pictures, sound and hyperlinks, such as businesses maintain or that individuals can set up on Facebook, rather than a bunch of random files located in one of many folders stored on our family’s file server. The “server” is actually just another home computer that sits next to my desk in our home office, and that we use to store files, perform back-ups, and route the Internet to the family network. It has no graphical interface, but if you know the precise location of a file, you can access it either from one of the home computers or remotely.

Using the term “website” also gives the impression that Alex was actively aware of all of the material, when, in fact, it had accumulated over a number of years and he didn’t even remember that some of that stuff had been stored there or whether it had been put there by him or one of our sons, who also have access to the server.

That’s just an excerpt; read the whole thing over here.

2. Professor Eugene Volokh, a former clerk to Chief Judge Kozinski, offers his thoughts over at the Volokh Conspiracy. Money quote:

Kozinski has a quirky sense of humor, and keeps some joke pictures and videos on his computer rather than throwing them away. I’m sure they aren’t the kinds of things some people would enjoy seeing. But he wasn’t trying to show them to those people! He was just minding his own business, keeping some files on his own private server. And now it’s a national news story.

Enough already.

3. Professor Volokh’s post concludes by quoting the analysis of Professor Lawrence Lessig, another leading legal academic and cyberlaw guru. Professor Lessig writes:

When it comes to government invasions of our privacy, we are (and rightly) a privacy obsessed people. We need to extend some of that obsession to the increasingly common violations by private people against other private people. There is nothing for Chief Judge Kozinski to defend because he has violated no law, and we live in a free society (or so he thought when he immigrated from Romania). A free society should feed the right to be left alone, including the right not to have to defend publicly private choices and taste, by learning not to feed the privacy trolls.

That’s just the tail end of a long and thoughtful post. Read it in full by clicking here.

Alex Kozinski’s Wife Speaks Out [Patterico’s Pontifications via Volokh Conspiracy (Jonathan Adler)]
Alex Kozinski [Volokh Conspiracy (Eugene Volokh)]
The Kozinski mess [Lessig Blog (Larry Lessig)]

We’ve been following the controversy around Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit after the discovery of sexually explicit material on his personal website. Our posts are collected here.

Given the firestorm of coverage in the last few days, this latest news may not be surprising:

A federal appeals court judge today recused himself from a closely-watched obscenity trial in Los Angeles, three days after acknowledging that he had posted sexually explicit material on a publicly accessible personal website.

“In light of the public controversy surrounding my involvement in this case, I have concluded that there is a manifest necessity to declare a mistrial,” said Alex Kozinski, chief judge for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. “I will recuse myself from further participation in the case and will ask the chief judge of the district court to reassign it to another judge.”

Yesterday, Kozinski called for an investigation of himself. He continues to handle this with dignity, or as much dignity as one can when there’s talk of cow porn.

Judge Alex Kozinski recuses himself from obscenity trial [Los Angeles Times]

Earlier: Coverage of Chief Judge Alex Kozinski (scroll down)

Apologies for the downtime. We were off being interviewed by CNN Headline News about the controversy surrounding Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit. We’ll post a link to the interview if and when it becomes available.

Speaking of Chief Judge Kozinski, here’s the latest news:

The 9th Circuit judge, who posted sexually explicit material on his own site, according to a Los Angeles Times story yesterday, has just released this statement:

I have asked the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit to take steps pursuant to Rule 26, of the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct and Disability, and to initiate proceedings concerning the article that appeared in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times. I will cooperate fully in any investigation.

Is it unusual for a judge to call for an investigation of himself? Sure. But it’s a testament to Chief Judge Kozinski’s integrity and forthrightness; he’s not trying to hide anything underneath his robe. This is a smart move, a lesson in good crisis management.

Kozinski Calls for Investigation of Himself [WSJ Law Blog]
Judge wants panel to investigate his porn postings [Associated Press]

Too… much…. information. Yes, we’re talking about the controversy over Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit, who’s presiding over the Ira Isaacs obscenity trial in Los Angeles, and who uploaded some materials to a shared family website that contained some sexual images (among many other things).

This controversy is “TMI” in more ways than one. There has been such a torrent of news and legal blog coverage that we’re still getting up to speed. We’ll have more detailed thoughts later. Our extensive past coverage appears here, here, and here.

In the meantime, here’s an open thread for discussion, plus some material to keep you occupied: (1) an extensive collection of links related to this matter, to both mainstream media sources and blogs, as well as selected material obtained from Chief Judge Kozinski’s site; and (2) a pair of reader polls (one from yesterday, still open, and one new, prompted by comments like this one).

NEWS COVERAGE
Judge suspends L.A. obscenity trial after conceding his website had sexual images [Los Angeles Times]
Porn Stash Puts Obscenity Case Judge in Awkward Spot [New York Sun]
Chief Judge Contributed to Racy Web Site [New York Times]
Report: Smut-case judge posted explicit images [AP]
Judge Assailed Over Sexually Explicit Images on Web Site [Washington Post]
Obscenity Trial Suspended After Report That Judge Posted Sexual Images [WSJ Law Blog]

BLOGOSPHERE COVERAGE
The L.A. Times’s Tipster on Kozinski’s Porn: Cyrus Sanai [Patterico’s Pontifications]
More on Cyrus Sanai’s Campaign Against Judge Kozinski [Patterico’s Pontifications]
The L.A. Times’s Tipster [How Appealing (Howard Bashman)]
The Kozinski Circus [Convictions / Slate (Emily Bazelon)]
Should Litigants in Obscenity Case Before Judge Kozinski Moo-ve for a Mistrial? [Legal Blog Watch (Carolyn Elefant)]
Judges Gone Wild [Concurring Opinions (Kaimipono Wanger)]
News judgments about Kozinski’s porn [LawBeat (Mark Obbie) via How Appealing]

COLLECTED MATERIALS FROM CHIEF JUDGE KOZINSKI’S WEBSITE
[Warning: NSFW]
What “Stuff” was on Judge Kozinski’s Personal Website? [Celebrity Justice / USLaw.com]
Exclusive: Kozinski’s Porn — Images from Judge Alex Kozinski’s Web Site [Patterico’s Pontifications]
[Warning: NSFW]

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Chief Judge Alex Kozinski (scroll down)

UPDATE: Judge Kozinski has suspended the trial for 48 hours, to allow the prosecution to explore “a potential conflict of interest concerning the court having a… sexually explicit website with similar material to what is on trial here.” [Los Angeles Times; New York Sun; New York Times; AP]

Congratulations to Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is currently presiding over a high-profile obscenity trial in Los Angeles. In addition, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, for some time he “has maintained his own publicly accessible website featuring sexually explicit photos and videos.” Accordingly, he is our Judge of the Day.

A number of you emailed us about this Los Angeles Times article, which contains some colorful details about the materials that were available on Chief Judge Kozinski’s website until recently (it’s now under lockdown). We previously linked to and discussed the L.A. Times story here. Please note that when we refer to material “after the jump” or “below the fold,” you need to click on the little “Continue reading” link to read the rest of the post. Sometimes we save the juiciest material for after the jump.

In any event, we reached out to Chief Judge Kozinski for comment. He sent us the following email:

David: I can’t comment on the trial.

As for the other matter, the server was maintained by my son, Yale, for the entire family. Pictures, documents, music, audio and other items of personal and family interest are stored there so various family members can reach them from wherever they happen to be. Everyone in the family stores stuff there, and I had no idea what some of the stuff is or was — I was surprised that it was there. I assumed I must have put it there by accident, but when the story broke, Yale called and said he’s pretty sure he uploaded a bunch of it. I had no idea, but that sounds right, because I sure don’t remember putting some of that stuff there.

I consider the server a private storage device, not meant for public access. I’d have been more careful about its contents if I had known that others could access it.

Should Chief Judge Kozinski recuse himself from the Ira Isaacs trial as a result of his website coming to light? Thus far, ATL readers vote no, by a 60-40 margin. The poll is still open; you can access it by clicking here, then scrolling down.

We’ll continue to monitor the situation and bring you news of any developments as they occur.

Earlier: An L.A. Jury + Hours of Hard-Core Fetish Porn + Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, Presiding = Total Awesomeness

One of our favorite members of the federal judiciary — the brilliant and hilarious Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit — is in the headlines once again. Interestingly enough, it’s not for any appellate decision, but for a trial he’s presiding over (sitting by designation as a district judge).

And it’s no ordinary trial. From a tipster:

The Hon. Alex Kozinski, the (still-reigning?) #1 Superhottie of the Federal Judiciary, will be presiding over a trial — yes, you read that right — in an obscenity case involving a fetishist named Ira Isaacs.

More details, from the Los Angeles Times:

Ira Isaacs says his films, which feature bestiality and defecation, have artistic value. Federal prosecutors say they are criminally obscene. Hours of footage will help jurors decide who’s right.

Fun stuff. This is one jury that won’t need Sudoku to stay awake.

In an article on Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported:

[Chief Judge Kozinski’s] involvement in the case may be a stroke of luck for Isaacs. That is because Kozinski is seen as a staunch defender of free speech. When he learned that there were filters banning pornography and other materials from computers in the appeals court’s Pasadena offices, he led a successful effort to have the filters removed.

Perhaps even luckier than expected? Learn why, after the jump.

Here is a Tale of Two Judges: the Honorable Alex Kozinski, the relatively new chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; and the Honorable Elizabeth Halverson, district judge in Clark County, Nevada.

Both are judges in the western United States. Both are colorful figures and well-known judicial mavericks. And both have been in the news lately. Chief Judge Kozinski graces the cover of California Lawyer magazine, which describes him — and rightfully so — as “brilliant, charming, and provocative.” Meanwhile, Judge Halverson has been all over the national media in the past few days, thanks to this less-than-favorable AP report (picked up by many news outlets).

In light of these similarities, we decided to conduct a head-to-head comparison of the two jurists. Check it out, below the fold.