LOS ANGELES – Fate can be cruel.The judge presiding over adult filmmaker Ira Isaacs’ U.S. District Court trial on charges of distributing criminally obscene videos depicting bestiality and defecation on Tuesday found himself taking heat for his personal Web space, which contains…
Wait for it.
… implied bestiality and other sexually explicit content.
Judge Alex Kozinski, the chief judge of the 9th Circuit Court in Los Angeles and one of the highest-ranking jurists in the nation, admitted Tuesday that his personal online storage space contains photos and videos depicting naked people painted to look like animals and partially clothed adults cavorting with aroused farm creatures, among other subjects. Kozinski admitted some of the images were inappropriate, but classified others as “funny.” In his defense, he said he didn’t know the Web space was publicly accessible until the press began contacting him about the material.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Kozinski’s spot on the Web server contained an “extensive” collection of adult material, “including images of masturbation, public sex and contortionist sex. There was a slide show striptease featuring a transsexual, and a folder that contained a series of photos of women’s crotches as seen through snug-fitting clothing or underwear. There were also themes of defecation and urination, though they are not presented in a sexual context.”
Kozinski said he has hidden the directory from the public now and would delete the most offensive content. However, he declined to comment about whether the site’s existence should cause him to recuse himself from the Isaacs trial, which began Wednesday. Observers, however, said the court of public opinion may leave him no choice.
Stephen Gillers, a New York University law professor and a longtime friend of Kozinski’s, said the site may cause the public to question Kozinski’s objectivity. At the very least, the directory’s discovery will humiliate the judge publicly and “harm his reputation in many quarters.”
“The phrase ‘sober as a judge’ resonates with the American public,” Gillers told the Times<.>. “We don’t want them to reveal their private selves publicly. This is going to upset a lot of people.”
Kozinski, 57, was appointed to the bench in 1985 by then-President Ronald Reagan. He was named chief judge for the 9th Circuit in 2007. Although he is considered a conservative on most issues, he is known as a champion of the First Amendment.
As for whether any of the material on his website is obscene or prurient, he told the Times, “I don’t know what to tell you. I think it’s odd and interesting. It’s part of life.”
The site also included Kozinski’s personal essays and legal writings as well as music files and personal photos.
