Judiciary Backs Sexual Misconduct Findings Against Alaska Judge

A national judicial conduct committee backed findings that Joshua Kindred sexually harassed his former clerk and created a hostile work environment while serving as a federal judge in Alaska.

The Judicial Conference’s Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability said in a Thursday decision that the Ninth Circuit judicial council “conducted a thorough investigation” and “afforded Judge Kindred all the process he was due.”

Kindred, a Trump appointee who joined the bench in 2020, stepped down last month after the circuit’s judicial panel found he had an “inappropriately sexualized relationship” with one of his clerks that constituted harassment,and created a hostile work environment “that took a personal and professional toll on multiple clerks.”

Under its rules, the national committee was required to review the council’s orders for errors or abuse of discretion, even though Kindred waived his right to appeal and didn’t request a review.

The committee’s decision didn’t specifically address whether Kindred should be impeached, but noted that the question is still before the Judicial Conference.

The clerk Kindred was found to have harassed later worked for the Alaska US Attorney’s office, and has since accused that office of retaliating against her for reporting Kindred’s conduct, in a whistleblower complaint and an interview with Bloomberg Law.

The office said it acted promptly in reporting the clerk’s allegations to the court and the Justice Department for investigation.

The former judge also received nude photos from a senior prosecutor and told a clerk about it, the council said. He also discussed with his clerks his own sex life, the clerks’ romantic lives, and “disparaging opinions of his colleagues.”

Alaska prosecutors and defense lawyers since Kindred’s resignation have been reviewing his past cases for possible conflicts of interest.

Kindred initially denied the misconduct allegations during the investigation but later admitted to the council he relied on his clerks in an “uncontrolled” way during a period of personal turmoil.

—With assistance from Jacqueline Thomsen.