Kozinski Porn Suit Judicial Bias Claims Tossed by Federal Court

The California lawyer who sued various Ninth Circuit judges over the misconduct of former Judge Alex Kozinski failed to provide any evidence for his claims that his suit was dismissed by a district court to curry favor for a judicial nomination, a federal court said.

Attorney Cyrus Sanai said he complained about pornography on Kozinski’s personal website, and that judges were aware of the porn and harassment of female law clerks, but helped keep it quiet and retaliated against those who sought to expose misconduct. Sanai alleged in a 2019 suit that the judicial council “issued a published censure” of him and tried to have him disbarred after he filed a “valid misconduct complaint” against Kozinski over a decade ago.

In April, Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the lawsuit, finding Sanai’s allegations were either barred by sovereign immunity or quasi-judicial immunity.

On Monday, Judge James Donato rejected Sanai’s attempts to vacate the dismissal, calling allegations of judicial bias “entirely without foundation.”

Sanai argued Rogers should have recused herself from the case, based on her close working relationship with one of the defendants and her candidacy for a position on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

But Sanai’s allegations are without legal or evidentiary support, Donato said. Sanai merely parrots the speculation of press commentators about potential nominees, and incorrectly states that the pay difference between district and circuit judges is $30,000, when in fact it is $13,200, Donato wrote.

Even if Sanai had presented supporting evidence for his bias claims, it wouldn’t matter because sitting judges play no role in the constitutional procedures governing judicial nominations, Donato said. Article III judges are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, and Sanai’s claim that sitting judges could blackball Rogers’ alleged nomination is a fundamental misunderstanding of the process.

Donato also rejected Sanai’s “hints” that he should be recused from the motion against Rogers, based on his service as a judicial law clerk to former Ninth Circuit Judge Procter R. Hug Jr., who Sanai alleges is a defendant in the lawsuit.

“None of this makes any reasonable sense,” Donato wrote. Hug is deceased, and can’t be a defendant, and nothing in the order could affect his posthumous reputation in any way.

Sanai represents himself. The U.S. Department of Justice represents the defendants.

The case is Sanai v. Kozinski, N.D. Cal., No. 4:19-cv-08162, 5/24/21.