Judiciary
Federal judge who abruptly resigned had been referred for possible impeachment recommendation
A federal judge in Alaska abruptly announced his resignation last week after a determination that he had “no filter” in conversations with his law clerks, had “no hesitation” in using inappropriate language, and had a “sexualized relationship” with a law clerk. (Image from Shutterstock)
A federal judge in Alaska abruptly announced his resignation last week after a determination that he had “no filter” in conversations with his law clerks, had “no hesitation” in using inappropriate language, and had a “sexualized relationship” with a law clerk.
U.S. District Judge Joshua M. Kindred of the District of Alaska announced his July 8 resignation last week after the judicial council of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco requested his resignation and referred the ethics matter to the U.S. Judicial Conference to consider impeachment, according to a July 8 press release and a May 23 order released Monday.
The judicial council of the 9th Circuit adopted the findings of a special investigating committee and imposed a public reprimand.
U.S. District Judge Joshua M. Kindred of the District of Alaska announced his July 8 resignation last week. (Photo by Snickers2686, PD US Courts, via Wikimedia Commons)
The judicial council concluded that Kindred created a hostile work environment for his law clerks and had a “sexualized relationship” with one law clerk that continued when she became an assistant U.S. attorney. She did not appear before Kindred in cases, however.
Kindred also “deliberately misled” a special committee investigating the ethics allegations and stuck to his story until faced with “overwhelming evidence,” the judicial council said.
Kindred had texted the law clerk that he got to see her from a “pretty amazing perspective” after an alleged sexual incident at Kindred’s temporary apartment in October 2022. The clerk said she accompanied Kindred to his home because he said he wanted to talk, and she went into the bedroom at his insistence.
“I just remember thinking like there’s nothing I can do about this, like this is about to happen,” the clerk reported. “I remember just feeling like, yeah, finally, like you win like the game.”
Kindred had described the encounter as a “brief romantic interlude” and said he was not the aggressor. He also said the encounter was consensual.
“The record is inconclusive on that point,” the judicial council said.
Kindred also behaved inappropriately in his relationships with other law clerks, the judicial council said.
“Judge Kindred appeared to have no filter as to the topics he would discuss with the clerks,” the judicial council said. “He discussed his past dating life, his romantic preferences, his sex life, the law clerks’ boyfriends and dating lives, his divorce, his interest in and communications with potential romantic or sexual partners, and his disparaging opinions of his colleagues. He also made disparaging comments about public and political figures.”
Kindred’s statements about public figures included assertions that he was a big hit at a dinner party “due to how much s- – – I talked about [former Alaska Gov.] Sarah Palin” and his claim that he told a GOP senator “to eat a d- – -.” Kindred was an appointee of former President Donald Trump.
Kindred “also had no hesitation in using language that was inappropriate in a professional setting, such as encouraging rating people based on ‘f- – -ability,’” and telling stories about sexual relations in a hot tub, the judicial council said.
“In the few instances where clerks came to Judge Kindred to discuss his inappropriate behavior, they were belittled or ostracized, and, in one instance, a clerk left the clerkship,” according to the judicial council.
The judicial council acknowledged that the law clerks appeared at times to “initiate or reciprocate Judge Kindred’s communications about personal matters” but noted that they may have been driven by “the inherent power imbalance in chambers.” The clerks “liked the judge personally and viewed him as a friendly figure, but they also wanted follow-on references, especially if they sought to remain in Alaska, where the legal community is very small,” the judicial council said.
Among the publications covering the findings are Bloomberg Law and the Washington Post. How Appealing links to additional stories.
