Kozinski's judicial career ended in 2017 when he retired after over a dozen of his former female law clerks and legal staffers accused him of sexual harassment and abusive practices.

Kozinski, who had grown up as a committed communist in Bucharest, became what he described as "an instant capitalist" when he took his first trip outside of the Iron Curtain, to Vienna, where he partook of such luxuries as chewing gum and bananas.

[10] Kozinski was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on June 5, 1985, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, to a new seat created by 98 Stat.

In 2005, after concluding that the Ninth Circuit insufficiently addressed breaches of judicial conduct by Judge Manuel Real, after rules had been enacted to discourage behavior that would initiate "a substantial and widespread lowering of public confidence in the courts among reasonable people," Kozinski demanded the actual imposition of higher standards, writing,"It does not inspire confidence in the federal judiciary, when we treat our own so much better than we treat everyone else."

[10] In that capacity, he received complaints about Montana Federal Presiding Judge Richard F. Cebull, who had sent hundreds of emails disparaging women, racial minorities and liberal politicians.

[18] In the 2000s, while defending the Ninth Circuit against criticism because of a recent controversial decision, Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, Kozinski, who had not been part of the case, emphasized judicial independence: "It seems to me that this is what makes this country truly great—that we can have a judiciary where the person who appoints you doesn't own you.

"[24] The en banc decision was reversed by the Supreme Court, which called the Ninth Circuit's action "a grave abuse of discretion.

"[25] Kozinski dissented from an order rejecting the suggestion for rehearing en banc an appeal filed by Vanna White against Samsung for depicting a robot on a Wheel of Fortune–style set in a humorous advertisement.

While the Ninth Circuit held in favor of White, Kozinski dissented: "All creators draw in part on the work of those who came before, referring to it, building on it, poking fun at it; we call this creativity, not piracy.

Kozinski opened the case with: "If this were a sci-fi melodrama, it might be called Speech-Zilla meets Trademark Kong" and famously concluded his 2002 opinion with the words: "The parties are advised to chill.

"[28] The majority found the due process rights of a man, who was accused of smuggling illegal immigrants across the border, were not violated despite the fact that witnesses who could have exonerated him had been deported before they could be deposed.

[29][30] In 2012, after prosecutors used similar tactics in another case, United States v. Leal-Del Carmen, Kozinski's position in Ramirez-Lopez became the law in the Ninth Circuit.

[33][34] During the trial on June 11, 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported that Kozinski had "maintained a publicly accessible Web site featuring sexually explicit photos and videos" at alex.kozinski.com.

The Times reported that the site included a photo of naked women on all fours painted to look like cows; a video of a half-dressed man cavorting with a sexually aroused farm animal; images of masturbation and public and contortionist sex; a slide show striptease featuring a transgender woman; a series of photos of women's crotches as seen through snug fitting clothing or underwear; and content with themes of defecation and urination.

"[35] Calling the coverage a "baseless smear" by a disgruntled litigant, Stanford University law professor Lawrence Lessig pointed out that the Times had unfairly taken the videos and pictures out of context in its descriptions.

He also argued that the Kozinski family's right to privacy was violated when the disgruntled litigant exposed the private files, which were not intended for public viewing.

[37] Kozinski initially refused to comment on disqualifying himself[38] and then granted a 48-hour stay, when the prosecutor requested time to explore "a potential conflict of interest.

[45][46] In February 2013, Kozinski wrote an opinion reversing a district court ruling that had denied Japanese whalers Institute of Cetacean Research a preliminary injunction against the US-based anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

[49] In July 2014, Joseph Rudolph Wood, who had been sentenced to death, filed a motion before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals claiming a right to know which chemicals were included in the lethal injection that was to be used to execute him.

While the court denied his motion, Kozinski issued a dissenting opinion, calling the use of drugs a "misguided effort to mask the brutality of executions by making them look serene and peaceful."

He went on to argue that states should revert to more primitive methods like the guillotine, electric chair, gas chamber, and firing squads because they are accurate and do not mask the brutality.

On March 17, 2017, Kozinski wrote a dissenting opinion when the Ninth Circuit denied en banc review after a three-judge panel blocked Trump's "travel ban."

Joined by Jay Bybee, Consuelo Callahan, Carlos Bea, and Sandra Segal Ikuta, he argued that courts should not divine an illicit purpose from a President's statements on the campaign trail.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority that "because there is persuasive evidence that the entry restriction has a legitimate grounding in national security concerns, quite apart from any religious hostility," the courts "must accept that independent justification.

[61] In 2008, the Los Angeles Times revealed Kozinski "maintained a publicly accessible website featuring sexually explicit photos and videos.

"[66] An image posted on the legal gossip blog Underneath their Robes shows a female law clerk with her arm draped around Kozinski's neck.

[72] For many years, Judge Kozinski's job announcement stated that "I'm looking for amazingly intelligent Supreme Court clerk wannabes eager to slave like dogs for an unreasonably demanding boss.

Those employees claimed Kozinski was unqualified to join the Ninth Circuit "because of a harsh temperament, questionable decisions and misleading testimony before the Judiciary Committee.

"[12] They said Kozinski was "harsh, cruel, demeaning, sadistic, disingenuous and without compassion," and that his actions as a boss "portray[ed] an unusual degree of hostility .

On December 15, The Washington Post published a story with allegations against Kozinski from 9 more women, this time with more prominent accusers including colleagues, law students, a professor and a former judge.