US judge Joshua M. Kindred resigns after investigation into sexual misconduct

The report accuses Kindred, who was appointed judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska by President Donald Trump in 2019, to talk about, among other things, his divorce, his love life, his sex life and his romantic preferences as well as the boyfriends and love lives of his legal trainees.

Kindred encouraged his legal trainees to He harassed people because of their sexual attractiveness, the report said, and belittled or ostracised employees who tried to talk to him about his inappropriate behaviour.

The 9th Circuit Judicial Council asked Kindred to resign after concluding that he had violated the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act and the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges. The council also referred the matter to the Judicial Conference of the United States, the policy-making body of the U.S. courts, to consider impeachment.

On Wednesday, Kindred submitted his two-sentence letter of resignation to President Biden, who will have the opportunity to nominate a successor.

“Based on the order and certification of the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit, it is more than appropriate that Mr. Kindred has submitted his resignation,” Senator Lisa Murkowski (R), the senior senator from Alaska, said in a statement on X on Monday evening. “Judges must meet the highest standards and Mr. Kindred has fallen far short of them. I will work quickly to submit a replacement candidate for consideration.”

Since Judge Alex Kozinski of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in California retired in 2017 amid allegations of sexual misconduct in the workplace, judicial leaders have been trying to encourage more court employees to report misconduct.

“The judiciary is entrusted with self-governance and must demand the highest standards of integrity and impartiality from its federal judges. We take complaints of judicial misconduct seriously,” said Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia, who initiated the misconduct investigation at Kindred, in a statement accompanying the report.

Kindred’s resignation leaves only one active, full-time federal judge in Alaska: Chief Judge Sharon L. Gleason. Circuit Clerk Candice Duncan said in a statement posted on the court’s website Friday that Kindred’s caseload will be transferred to Gleason and Judge Timothy M. Burgess, who has taken senior status – a type of semi-retirement that creates a vacancy on the court.

Trump appointed Kindred in 2019 to succeed U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Beistline, who assumed senior status in 2015. The League of Conservation Voters, the nation’s largest environmental organization, opposed Kindred’s nomination, citing concerns about his time as an environmental consultant for the Alaska Oil and Gas Association.

Kindred was confirmed by the Senate in 2020, in a The vote ended 54-41 and was largely along party lines. Senators Joe Manchin III (West Virginia) and Kyrsten Sinema (Arizona), who then called themselves Democrats but are now independents, joined Republicans in pushing through Kindred’s confirmation.

In January, Kindred dismissed a lawsuit seeking to exclude Trump from Alaska’s November ballot, citing technical issues with the case, including lack of jurisdiction.

Prior to his appointment as a judge, Kindred also worked in the Regional Solicitor’s Office and as a federal prosecutor in the Anchorage District Attorney’s Office.