Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, confirmed to the L.A. Times that he had posted sexually explicit photos on his website and only blocked public access when the reporter came asking about it.

Kozinski, 57, said that he thought the site was for his private storage and that he was not aware the images could be seen by the public, although he also said he had shared some material on the site with friends. After the interview Tuesday evening, he blocked public access to the site.

[skip]

Kozinski said he would delete some material from his site, including the photo depicting women as cows, which he said was "degrading . . . and just gross." He also said he planned to get rid of a graphic step-by-step pictorial in which a woman is seen shaving her pubic hair.

Kozinski said he must have accidentally uploaded those images to his server while intending to upload something else. "I would not keep those files intentionally," he said. The judge pointed out that he never used appeals court computers to maintain the site.

The sexually explicit material on Kozinski's site earlier this week was extensive, including images of masturbation, public sex and contortionist sex. There was a slide show striptease featuring a transsexual, and a folder that contained a series of photos of women's crotches as seen through snug fitting clothing or underwear. There were also themes of defecation and urination, though they are not presented in a sexual context.

The judicial conservative has been a first amendment stickler when it comes to sexual material, and by coincidence was chosen to oversee the obscenity trial of Ira Isaacs, a filmmaker accused of distributing criminally obscene sexual-fetish videos depicting bestiality and defecation. Opening statements in the trial were set for today. Alex.kozinski.com has, um, gone offline.

* Reviews begin: UCLA law professor Stephen Bainbridge poses a few questions on his blog.

# Does libertarian = libertine?

# Given the amount of porn available on the web (or so I’m told), why would anybody need their own stash these days?

# Who stashes their porn on the internet? Other than porn stars?

# Kozinski long has been regarded as one of the smartest guys on the federal bench. Do we need to rethink that?

# Does Kozinski know that transvestite judge?

# Would Kozinski have gotten too much enjoyment out of this trial? I imagine the following scene. Defense counsel: “Your honor, I think we’ve seen enough.” Prosecutor: “I agree.” Kozinski: “Just one more minute …. ahhhh.”

# If Kozinski goes ahead with hearing the Issacs trial, he should keep his hands in plain sight at all times. Pocket pool is right out.