Judge Alex Kozinski

Judge Alex Kozinski (born July 23, 1950) is a judge in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and a popular essayist. Image File history File links Kozinski. ... Image File history File links Kozinski. ... July 23 is the 204th day (205th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 161 days remaining. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... A judge or justice is an official who presides over a court. ... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: District of Alaska District of Arizona Central, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of California District of Hawaii District of Idaho District of Montana District of...

Youth, education and early career

Kozinski was born 1950 in Bucharest, Romania but his parents, both Holocaust survivors, brought him to United States in 1962 when he was 12. They settled in Los Feliz, Los Angeles and his father, Moses, ran a small grocery store there. Bucharest (population 2. ... Concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust The Holocaust was Nazi Germanys systematic genocide (ethnic cleansing) of various ethnic, religious, national, and secular groups during World War II. Early elements include the Kristallnacht pogrom and the T-4 Euthanasia Program established by Hitler that killed some 200,000 people. ... Nickname: City of Angels Official website: http://www. ...

Kozinski attended John Marshall High School and then the University of California, Los Angeles. He received his A.B. from UCLA in 1972 and the J.D. from UCLA School of Law in 1975; he went on to clerk for then-Ninth Circuit Judge Anthony Kennedy and Chief Justice Warren Burger. Then he spent the years from 1977 to 1981 in private practice in California and Washington D.C. In 1980, Kozinski was working as deputy legal counsel for the Office of the President-Elect before going to serve as a counsel in the White House under President Ronald Reagan in 1981. [1] The University of California, Los Angeles, popularly known as UCLA, is a public, coeducational university located in the residential area of Westwood within the city of Los Angeles. ... A Bachelor of Arts (B.A. or A.B.) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or program in the arts and/or sciences. ... The University of California, Los Angeles, popularly known as UCLA, is a public, coeducational university situated in the neighborhood of Westwood within the city of Los Angeles. ... J.D. redirects here; for alternate uses, see J.D. (disambiguation) J.D. is an abbreviation for the Latin Juris Doctor, also called a Doctor of Law or Doctorate of Jurisprudence, and is the law degree typically awarded by an accredited U.S. law school after successfully completing three years... The Hugh and Hazel Darling Law Library, UCLA School of Law The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), School of Law is the law school of the University of California, Los Angeles. ... In the United States, a law clerk is a person who assists a judge in researching issues before the court and in writing opinions. ... For other people of the same name, see Anthony Kennedy (disambiguation). ... The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth- or other countries with an Anglosaxon type of justice, such as the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Supreme Court of New Zealand, the Supreme... Warren Burger at a press conference in May 1969 shortly after he was nominated to be Chief Justice of the United States. ... A President-elect is a candidate who has officially been elected President, but who has not yet acceded to his Office, as it is still occupied by the out-going President. ... The southern side of the White House The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States of America. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ...

Judicial career

Kozinski's first judicial appointment was as chief judge at the newly-formed Court of Federal Claims in 1982. In 1985, age 35, Kozinki was appointed to a new seat at the Ninth Circuit by Reagan, making him the youngest federal appeals court judge in the country. Defending the court against criticism because of a controversial decision, Kozinski went on record emphasizing the independence of the judges: "It seems to me that this is what makes this country truly great -- that we can have a judiciary where the person who appoints you doesn't own you." [2]. He also took a stand against the charge that the Ninth Court is overly liberal, which led some to call it "The Notorious Ninth": "And yet I can say with some confidence that cries that the 9th Circuit is so liberal are just simply misplaced." The United States Court of Federal Claims is a court formed on October 1, 1982 as the United States Claims Court, a successor to the United States Court of Claims. ... A critic (derived from the ancient Greek word krites meaning a judge) is a person who offers a value judgement or an interpretation. ... Look up Controversy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For other uses, see Controversy (disambiguation). ... Judicial independence is the doctrine that decisions of the judiciary should be impartial and not subject to influence from the other branches of government or from private or political interests. ... Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of...

Judge Kozinski's understanding of his role shows in this statement: "If you, as a judge, find yourself too happy with the result in a case, stop and think, [i]s that result justified by the law, fairly and honestly applied to the facts? Or is it merely a bit of self-indulgence?"

Cases

One of the most controversial cases that Judge Kozinski had a role in was the murder case of Thomas Martin Thompson. Thompson had been convicted by a prosecution that relied heavily on the testimony of his jail inmates, and there were doubts in the efficiency of his defense that even led seven former California prosecutors into filing briefs on Thompson's behalf. Four days before the scheduled execution, the Ninth voted 7 to 4 to give Thompson a new trial on the grounds of procedural misunderstandings. Kozinski dissented, disagreeing that there had been a formal error and stating: "If the en banc call is missed for whatever reason, the error can be corrected in a future case where the problem again manifests itself," "That this is a capital case does not change the calculus. The stakes are higher in a death case, to be sure, but the stakes for a particular litigant play no legitimate role in the en banc process." This opinion, that correct proceedings were more important than preventing a judicial error that would result in an execution, was vehemently opposed by his old friend Judge Reinhardt who called it "bizarre and horrifying" and "unworthy of any jurist." [3] Look up Controversy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For other uses, see Controversy (disambiguation). ... Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of law that regulates governmental sanctions (such as imprisonment and/or fines) as retaliation for crimes against the social order. ... In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. ... A convict is a person that has been convicted of a crime. ... In most litigation under the common law adversarial system the defendant, perhaps with the assistance of counsel, may allege or present defenses (or defences) in order to avoid liability, civil or criminal. ... In law, filing is the act of submitting a document to the clerk of a court for the courts immediate consideration, for storage in the courts files, or both. ... Brief redirects here. ... Look up trial in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Legal procedure is the body of law and rules used in the administration of justice in the court system, including such areas as civil procedure, criminal procedure, appellate procedure, administrative procedure, labour procedure, and probate. ... A dissenting opinion is an opinion of one or more judges in an appellate court expressing disagreement with the majority opinion. ... En banc or in bank is a term used to refer to the hearing of a case by all the judges of a court. ... Categories: Move to Wiktionary | Law stubs | Legal terms ... Legitimacy is the popular acceptance of a governing regime or law. ... Bizarre is a rapper part of the group D12. ...

In an interview Kozinski later specified his position on homicide cases and the death penalty: "I sort of think everyone is guilty, ...But occasionally, I find cases where I think the guy might not be. If I think this could be one of the innocent guys—could be—then I am a lot less anxious to apply procedural bars. But there were many details in the record. And I read the press about the trial. The journalists who were there said it was absolutely clear that Thompson was lying." wikipedia sucks Etymology: Latin homicidium, from homo- human being + caedere- to cut, kill Homicide is the killing of another human being by one or more persons. ...

Another of Kozinki's highest-profile cases to date was the lawsuit filed by Mattel against the Danish pop-dance group Aqua for "turning Barbie into a sex object" in their song "Barbie Girl," a case which he dismissed, famously concluding his opinion with the words "[t]he parties are advised to chill." Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc., 296 F.3d 894, 908 (9th Cir. 2002). A lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in which the party commencing the action, the plaintiff, seeks a legal remedy. ... Mattel Inc. ... Aqua in 1997, from left to right: Claus Norreen, Lene Grawford Nystrøm, René Dif and Søren Rasted Aqua was a Danish pop group, best-known for their 1997 breakthrough single Barbie Girl. The group formed in 1994, and achieved huge success across the globe in the late 1990s... Barbie, the worlds most well-known and best-selling doll, debuted at the American International Toy Fair on March 9, 1959. ... Sexual objectification is the act of treating and judging a person with values generally appreciated in animals or objects (eg. ... Barbie Girl is a song by the group Aqua, who released it in 1997 as a single and included it on the album Aquarium. ... The Music Corporation of America, commonly known as MCA, is a United States based corporation in the music business. ... Legal citation is the style of crediting and referencing other documents or sources of authority in legal writing. ...

Essayist

Kozinski has won admirers across the political spectrum who praise his common sense decisions and libertarian instinct. As an essayist, his writing is clear and often humorous, and has been featured in mainstream publications such as Slate, The New Yorker, The New Republic and The National Review. He also has a reputation as an active and sometimes intimidating questioner during oral argument. Because English is not his native language, he speaks with a strong accent which is often surprising to lawyers who are familiar only with his distinctive writing style. In most modern usages of the word spectrum, there is a unifying theme of between extremes at either end. ... Look up Common sense in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For the American independence advocacy pamphlet by Thomas Paine, see Common Sense (pamphlet) For the American hip-hop artist, see Common One meaning of the term common sense (or as an adjective, commonsense) on a strict construction of the term, is... See also Libertarianism and Libertarian Party Libertarian,is a term for person who has made a conscious and principled commitment, evidenced by a statement or Pledge, to forswear violating others rights and usually living in voluntary communities: thus in law no longer subject to government supervision. ... Mainstream is, generally, the common current of thought of the majority. ... Slate. ... The New Yorkers first cover, which is reprinted most years on the magazines anniversary. ... For other uses, see the disambiguation section. ... National Review (NR) is a conservative political magazine founded by author William F. Buckley, Jr. ... The references in this article would be clearer with a different style of citation, footnoting or external linking. ... Intimidation is the act of making others do what one wants through fear. ... Oral arguments are verbal presentations to a judge or appellate court by a lawyer (or the party when representing themselves) of the legal reasons why they should prevail. ... In linguistics, an accent is a pronunciation characteristic of a particular group of people relative to another group. ... Distinction is the social force which gives different individuals different value. ...

Trivia

• When he was much younger, Kozinski appeared on The Dating Game and won. [4] (Apparently the female contestant, Rita, could not resist Kozinski's greeting of "Good afternoon, flower of my heart.")
• In 2004, Judge Kozinski was elected the Number 1 Male Superhottie of the federal judiciary by a vote held by the weblog "Underneath Their Robes".
• Fresh out of law school, Kozinski was given a traffic ticket which gave the wrong court date. Kozinski challenged the ticket in court (Kozinski v. Gates) before Judge William Byrne of the Central District of California, and won. Three decades later, Kozinski's son fell victim to a similarly absurd procedure, also took the County to court (Kozinski v. Baca & Chavez), and appeared before the same Judge, who ruled for the son in the same manner as he had for the father. As a consequence of these two actions, traffic tickets must give accurate and current dates for court appearances, and automatic bail is no longer required for traffic tickets in Los Angeles County. [5]

The Dating Game is an ABC television show that first aired in 1965 and was created by Chuck Barris. ... The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (commonly referred to as the CDCA or CACD) is the U.S. district court serving some 17 million people in southern and central California, making it the largest federal judicial district by population. ...

References

• Bazelton, Emily. "The Big Kozinski". LegalAffairs, January-February 2004. Retrieved on April 30, 2006.
• Federal Judicial Center. "Kozinski, Alex". Retrieved on April 30, 2006
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). "Controversial Court". Retrieved on April 30, 2006.

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is a non-profit public broadcasting television service with 349 member TV stations in the United States. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Alex Kozinski

• The Unofficial Judge Alex Kozinski Site: Comprehensive source for writings, press mentions, and more.
• Campaign contributions made by Judge Alex Kozinski
• Interview with Alex Kozinski and Stephen Reinhardt
• NY Times: Judge Kozinski's 'Nomination Letter' to the Judicial Hottie contest.