A Tale of Two Judges: Chief Judge Alex Kozinski and Judge Elizabeth Halverson
Here is a Tale of Two Judges: the Honorable Alex Kozinski, the relatively new chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; and the Honorable Elizabeth Halverson, district judge in Clark County, Nevada.
Both are judges in the western United States. Both are colorful figures and well-known judicial mavericks. And both have been in the news lately. Chief Judge Kozinski graces the cover of California Lawyer magazine, which describes him -- and rightfully so -- as "brilliant, charming, and provocative." Meanwhile, Judge Halverson has been all over the national media in the past few days, thanks to this less-than-favorable AP report (picked up by many news outlets).
In light of these similarities, we decided to conduct a head-to-head comparison of the two jurists. Check it out, below the fold.
Here is the comparison, in tabular form. Explanatory notes appear below the table.
1. Clerkships: After graduating at the top of his law school class, the brilliant Alex Kozinski clerked for two leading jurists: then-Judge Anthony M. Kennedy, of the Ninth Circuit, followed by Chief Justice Warren Burger. After a meteoric rise through a series of prestigious posts, he took the bench at the tender age of 35.
Elizabeth Halverson served as a state district court clerk in Nevada for nine (9) years, before being dismissed by her boss, Chief Judge Kathy Hardcastle (who is now her archnemesis). According to the AP article, "Hardcastle dismissed Halverson as a law clerk in 2004, saying that such a position is typically a short-time job and that it was time Halverson moved on. Halverson then mounted an unsuccessful bid for Family Court judge against Hardcastle's husband."
2. Judicial System: The differences between Chief Judge Kozinski and Judge Halverson may be best explained by the differences between the federal and state judiciaries, and how judges are selected for each. See here.
3. Life Tenure: As for why we say Judge Halverson "wants it," see the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
In a highly unusual move, the Judicial Discipline Commission suspended Judge Halverson from her duties, with pay, last July. The commission is scheduled to conduct a hearing next month into allegations that she slept during trials, mistreated staff members, and had improper communication with jurors.The commission could remove her from office. Even if it does not, Judge Halverson has drawn substantial opposition to her re-election bid, and is considered a long-shot to retain her seat.
So Judge Halverson, acting as her own attorney, filed a lawsuit last week, asking the state Supreme Court to simply cancel this fall's election for her seat, allowing her to continue in office through 2012 without facing voters for another four years.
4. Preferred mode of transport: The motorized-scooter reference is no joke. See here.
5. Entourage: For more on the Halverson private bodyguard / security guard snafu, see here.
6. Views on beauty contests: Then-Judge Kozinski's self-nomination as a judicial hottie appears here, the nominees appear here, and his victory announcement appears here.
7. Treatment of support staff: Despite notoriously long hours, clerks to Chief Judge Kozinski rave about -- and are fiercely loyal to -- their boss. As a result, a Kozinski clerkship is one of the most coveted in the entire federal judiciary (and not just because of Chief Judge Kozinski's stellar track record as a feeder judge to the Supreme Court).
On Kozinski clerks marrying each other, see, e.g., here.
(The remaining details are taken from John Roemer's very interesting California Lawyer profile of Chief Judge Kozinski, which you can access in full over here, and the AP article on Judge Halverson, which is available over here.)
Just Being Kozinski [California Lawyer]
Nevada Judge Accused of Demanding Royal Treatment, Massages at Work [AP via Fox News]
EDITORIAL: 'Let's call the whole thing off [Las Vegas Review-Journal]
(40) Comments
boo
Huh? What? This is terrible.
"Larger than livestock"
Damn that's lame.
This post is an insult to Kozinski.
Did Evan Jowers write this? Is he trying to get everyone to move to HK again. lame.
FIRST to mention that Judge Halverson is fat.
That lady sounds awful. Ship her off to Gitmo
this is just weird / lame
Kozinski is the man, but Lat could really do well by writing about some of the other appellate all-stars. Can't a brother get a little Calabresi up in here?
4:35 - You're missing the point of this post, which is to compare and contrast the federal and state judiciaries through two prominent members of each.
Vito Fossella's congressional censure should include an afternoon under Halverson's house-dress.
Could you imagine having to go down on Halverson?? I would have to throw flour on her and look for the wet spot. . . . . . .
What about game show accolades? Has Halverson ever appeared on "The Dating Game"?
Awk-ward.
What's with the practice of spelling out a number and putting the ordinal in parens? It's stupid, particularly in a blog post. This isn't a credit agreement.
Why Kozinski is awesome (from the California Lawyer article):
"In another long-running dispute, Kozinski butted heads with court administrators at the Ninth Circuit and the Judicial Conference who had placed Internet filters on judicial computers in an effort, they said, to stop pornography downloads and Napster-style music file sharing. Those practices, the administrators complained following an investigation, accounted for an enormous increase in bandwidth used by courts nationwide."
"Kozinski responded to the administrators publicly. In op-ed articles published by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, he called out the bureaucrats by name and blasted what he termed their intrusion on judicial privacy. Then in 2001, he entered a computer room in San Francisco where Internet communications were funneled to the Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth circuits and personally disabled the filters. Called to task by outraged court administrators, Kozinski survived a close censure vote by the Judicial Conference."
At least AP/CNN used her "glamor shot."
From thankyoumaam.blogspot.com
The same anonymous commenter strikes again . . .
"I am also the person who complimented you on your posts on ATL some time
ago. I did not reach out to you when you asked to know who I was because,
frankly, I want to protect my anonymity. I still do. But for your information, I
am an associate at a large firm in a large city, and I am more than several
years removed from law school. I read ATL most days, and I read your blog when
you post new items. ATL and this blog are the only two non-sports blogs I
read."
"Regarding ATL, you took an unfair amount of flak from bitter associates,
but the fact is that you were much better than they cared to admit. Your byline
did not say "David Lat," however, and that was fatal for you. Even as bitter as
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the way for a lot of folks' acceptance of Kash. Without you, there is no Kash.
You were the sacrificial lamb, unfortunately, but good to see that you survived
your first year of law school."
[4:57]- That's gotta be the most disgusting thing imaginable. You WILL be getting a bill from my Psychiatrist AND my Optometrist. I think you burned my retina through the mental image of that heinous act. Somebody get the Neosporin.
5:06 -- Emphasis. Draw the reader's attention to the fact that she clerked for almost a decade.
"Larger than livestock" was actually pretty funny. 4:27 must be of similar stature.
five (5) oh (0) colon (:) six (6): Thanks!
UCLA : USC :: Federal Judges : State Judges
Is there really so little going on in the legal world that you have to start recycling stuff for your one post a day, Lat?
This is horrible. This dude needs to stick to gossip. Comedy writing is not in his future.
i enjoyed it -- very funny chart David. Good job highlighting the humor in the number of random & amusing contrasts b/n these two on various topics.
5:28 = Lat. or Kash.
The funniest part of the CNN.com story on Judge Halverson:
"Halverson did not respond to an interview request. A shirtless man who answered the door at her home pointed to a "no trespassing" sign and ordered a reporter off the property."
Law clerk in state court for NINE years!!! WTF?!
what the hell is wrong with Judge K., disabling filters?
What an idiot.
Halverson to 600 lbs!
The ABA Journal had a HUGE article about Judge Halverson months ago, which seemed a bit strange to me as the ABA Journal is not exactly known for its biting and scintillating journalism. I think it has remained the one and only interesting piece I have ever read in the ABA Journal...I mean, motorized transportation, scandalous foot-rubs, judicial catfights, and garbage strewn lawns - what more can one ask for?!
The word "superhottie" must have no meaning at all if it applies to the aforementioned.
What an embarrassment to the profession. Does she really get $130K for a state court position in Nevada?
Guys in my highschool clerked for 9 years all the time, it was no big deal.
I clerked in Las Vegas and ran into Judge Halverson once--she tried to eat me.
So did the great and powerful Koz.
1) Further proof that Judges should never be elected.
2) She acts exactly like 90% of state court judges, she's just fatter.
3) If they really take a look behind the curtains of her life, I am sure it would turn from funny to frightening.
"Then in 2001, [Kozinski] entered a computer room in San Francisco where Internet communications were funneled to the Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth circuits and personally disabled the filters. Called to task by outraged court administrators, Kozinski survived a close censure vote by the Judicial Conference."
And Chief Judge Edward Nottingham (D. Colo.) will never forget it (http://www.knowyourcourts.com/Nottingham/Nottingham.htm).
he is a slob