A federal judge in Alaska resigned after investigators found he abused his legal staff, had an “inappropriate sexual relationship” with one of them and then lied about his misconduct. according to a judicial report released on Monday.
Judge Joshua M. Kindred of the United States District Court for the District of Alaska, submitted his letter of resignation on July 3 without any explanation, stating that it would take effect on Monday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said in the report that Mr. Kindred was asked to leave his post after a panel of judges investigating allegations against him concluded that his office provided a hostile and sexualized work environment.
Investigators said Mr. Kindred sexually harassed a clerk and exchanged 278 pages of text messages with her, only a small portion of which related to her official duties. After her clerkship ended, Mr. Kindred met her for drinks and took her back to his office, where he kissed her, the report said.
During a second encounter, the report said, Mr. Kindred performed oral sex on the servant at a friend’s apartment. “I remember thinking, there’s nothing I can do about this, that this is going to happen,” she told investigators. Later, the servant said, Mr. Kindred told her to “put her head down and shut up,” using a profanity.
When confronted by the committee, Mr Kindred said there had been no physical or sexual interactions with the clerk at any time. “It was only when questioned under oath at the April 5, 2024 Judicial Council meeting that he admitted that he had deliberately lied to the special committee,” the report said.
The commission also found that clerks were given explicit details about Mr. Kindred’s sex life, questions about their dating lives and profane tirades about other officials. “Judge Kindred appeared to have no filter,” the report said.
Mr. Kindred did not respond to requests for comment left with his office and the clerk’s office. He was nominated to the court by President Donald J. Trump in 2019 and confirmed the following year by a 54-41 Senate vote. He previously worked for the Anchorage District Attorney’s Office and later for the Alaska Oil and Gas Association.
“We take complaints of judicial misconduct seriously,” Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia of the Ninth Circuit Court, who appointed the committee, said in a statement, adding, “I thank the witnesses who provided information, as they fully understand how difficult that may have been.”
The investigation into Mr. Kindred’s actions now goes to the Judicial Conference, the national policy-making body of the federal courts. Although Mr. Kindred has resigned, the conference could still report grounds for impeachment to Congress.
Federal judges are appointed for life, and resignations are unusual. From 2022 to 2023, at least six of the judiciary’s more than 800 judges — all Obama-appointed judges who had served between seven and 12 years — resigned to return to private practice.
In chambers, a federal judge is in close contact daily with three or four junior paralegals who depend on the judge for guidance and professional development. Mr. Kindred told investigators that his mistake had been to “treat his paralegals as friends,” the report said.
But some clerks described a very different dynamic. “In the few instances when clerks came to Judge Kindred to discuss his inappropriate behavior,” the report found, “they were belittled or excluded, and in one instance a clerk left the clerkship.”
A former legal assistant, Aliza Shatzman, who now lobbies for stronger workplace protections, said the Ninth Circuit did the right thing by asking for Mr. Kindred’s dismissal, but she called for more sweeping reforms. “Real accountability is still desperately needed,” said Ms. Shatzman, founder of the Legal Accountability Project.
In statements, both Alaska senators said expressed disappointment on Mr. Kindred’s actions. Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, said she would move quickly to put forward a replacement nominee.
“It is more than appropriate that Mr. Kindred has resigned,” she wrote on social media“Judges are held to the highest standards and Mr. Kindred has fallen well short of that.”
