Font Size: 
3rd Circuit's Chief Judge to Head Inquiry Into Actions of 9th Circuit's Kozinski
The Legal Intelligencer
June 18, 2008
Chief Judge Anthony J. Scirica of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and four other East Coast judges have been named to conduct the judicial misconduct investigation of 9th Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski stemming from reports of sexually explicit images on a Web site operated by Kozinski's family.
Kozinski himself had called for the investigation, but the Judicial Council of the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit filed an order on Monday asking that the matter be transferred to the judicial council of a different circuit due to "exceptional circumstances."
Within hours, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. assigned the investigation to the 3rd Circuit's Judicial Council, led by Scirica.
Just as quickly, Scirica announced that he had appointed a special committee that includes himself; 3rd Circuit Judges Marjorie O. Rendell and Walter K. Stapleton; U.S. District Chief Judge Harvey Bartle III of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; and Chief Judge Garrett E. Brown of the District of New Jersey. The investigation was sparked by reports last week in The Los Angeles Times that said Kozinski kept pornographic images on a Web site that was accessible to the public, including "a picture of naked women on all fours painted to look like cows and a video of a half-dressed man cavorting with a sexually aroused farm animal."
For Scirica, the appointment to head the investigation of Kozinski marks the second time this year that he has been tapped by Roberts for a prominent assignment. In April, Roberts appointed Scirica the chair of the executive committee of the Judicial Conference.
The 26-member Judicial Conference, which meets twice a year, is the policy-setting arm of the federal courts, and the executive committee "sets the agenda" for the conference, Scirica said in an interview at the time of his appointment.
Roberts, who chairs the conference and appoints all of its members, said at the time in a statement that Scirica "is a wise and thoughtful judge. The executive committee will benefit from his deep reservoir of experience and proven leadership skills."
