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Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to conduct inquiry into Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski's online posting of pornographic images, mp3 files, and other materials

Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to conduct inquiry into Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski's online posting of pornographic images, mp3 files, and other materials: So advises a reporter for the Daily Journal of California. This assignment was made by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.

The Third Circuit's Chief Judge is Anthony J. Scirica, and he would be deciding in the first instance what if anything to do with the judicial misconduct proceeding that Judge Kozinski apparently initiated with regard to himself last week.

The Third Circuit is viewed as one of the federal appellate courts that are most protective of First Amendment rights, as evidenced by television broadcasters' having selected the Third Circuit as the forum to challenge the FCC's fines for Janet Jackson's indecent exposure during the Super Bowl halftime show several years back. Moreover, Chief Judge Scirica is correctly perceived as a personification of fairness, and he is particularly highly regarded throughout the entire federal judicial system for the amazing job he performed for many years heading up the revision process for the rules of procedure and evidence applicable to federal bankruptcy, district, and intermediate appellate courts.

Update: The Associated Press reports that "Judges named to head Kozinski inquiry." According to the article, "U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts, acting under rules for federal judges, named five judges from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Philadelphia, to do the investigation." The article does not name the five judges, and I in the original portion of this post I have assumed that the Third Circuit's Chief Judge is among those five judges.

Second update: The AP report, as revised, identifies the following five judges as assigned to the investigatory panel, "Named were the chief judge for the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, Anthony J. Scirica; two other 3rd Circuit Court judges, Marjorie O. Rendell and Walter K. Stapleton; and two chief U.S. District Court judges, Harvey Bartle III of Pennsylvania and Garrett Brown Jr. of New Jersey." Judge Rendell is the wife of Pennsylvania's governor, and Judge Stapleton, based in Wilmington, Delaware, is a senior status Third Circuit judge. Chief Judge Bartle serves on the Philadelphia-based U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Full post as published by How Appealing on June 16, 2008 (boomark / email).