{"id":164996,"date":"2026-10-14T11:18:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T19:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/10\/14\/disgraced-former-judge-alex-kozinski-is-back-in-the-wsj-this-time-making-the-case-for-firing-squads\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T11:18:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T19:18:22","slug":"disgraced-former-judge-alex-kozinski-is-back-in-the-wsj-this-time-making-the-case-for-firing-squads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/10\/14\/disgraced-former-judge-alex-kozinski-is-back-in-the-wsj-this-time-making-the-case-for-firing-squads\/","title":{"rendered":"Disgraced Former Judge Alex Kozinski Is Back In The WSJ, This Time Making \u2018The Case For Firing Squads\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Disgraced former Ninth Circuit judge Alex Kozinski has a new op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, which raises the same question it raised the last time he turned up on the Journal\u2019s opinion page<\/a>: who is giving this fucking guy the proverbial mic again?<\/p>\n

Seriously, who is looking to hear from this guy? In 2017, Kozinski retired effective immediately<\/a> after 15 women accused him of sexual harassment. The allegations included showing clerks pornography in chambers and making sexual comments to the women who worked for him<\/a>, and more (yes, more) kept coming<\/a>. His retirement conveniently shut down the misconduct inquiry<\/a>, and he walked away with full benefits. He did lose his standing in the profession, and he has spent the better part of a decade trying to buy it back. He co-authored a brief in the \u201cShape of Water\u201d copyright fight<\/a>. He took a seat at Jenner & Block\u2019s table<\/a> at an industry dinner. He went back to the Ninth Circuit to argue<\/a>. He signed on as Donald Trump\u2019s lawyer<\/a> in the suit to get Trump back on Twitter, then put his name on a brief comparing Trump to Galileo<\/a>. In between, mainstream outlets kept citing him as an expert<\/a>, as if 2017 never happened.<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s stop on the tour is \u201cThe Case for Firing Squads<\/a>,\u201d published Monday. Its news peg is Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth\u2019s plan to execute Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan by firing squad on December 3 and to livestream it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kozinski is very into the firing squad part, but that isn\u2019t news either.<\/p>\n

Kozinski has been pitching this idea for over a decade. In 2014, as chief judge, he dissented in the Joseph Wood case and wrote that if the state is going to kill people, it should drop the pharmaceutical pretense and use rifles. He went on 60 Minutes in 2015 and floated the guillotine<\/a>, then did it again for Lesley Stahl in 2017<\/a>. He told Stahl that if society is going to take a life, \u201cwe should be willing to watch it.\u201d A healthy chunk of the new op-ed is Kozinski quoting his own 2014 dissent back at us \u2014 it\u2019s a rerun with a new Hegseth-shaped intro.<\/p>\n

Listen, he isn\u2019t wrong about lethal injection. It took Wood nearly two hours and 15 injections to die. Christa Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital in Tennessee. As currently practiced, the death penalty has become a horror show staffed by people improvising medical procedures they aren\u2019t trained to perform, and it is likely well past the point of cruel and unusual. Where Kozinski and I part ways is the conclusion. The answer to \u201cthe state can\u2019t kill people humanely\u201d isn\u2019t better aim, it\u2019s that the state should get out of the business of killing people.<\/p>\n

Kozinski\u2019s priorities show in what the op-ed skips. The new and truly horrific part of Hegseth\u2019s plan isn\u2019t the method (the military has used firing squads before), it\u2019s the livestream. No public execution has been held in this country in 90 years, and this one would put the United States in the company of Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, and Somalia. JD Vance said he wouldn\u2019t watch<\/a>, Pope Leo XIV weighed in<\/a>, and even George Will called it barbaric<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kozinski gives all of that one clause in his kicker: he has \u201csome doubts whether livestreaming the execution is advisable.\u201d Then, in the same sentence, he commends Hegseth for his honesty and for showing Hasan mercy. That\u2019s the entire analysis. This is the man who told a national television audience we should be willing to watch, and the livestream is the one question his own framework forces him to answer but Kozinski waves it off on the way to a compliment. This is like writing a theater review of Our American Cousin and briefly mentioning the disturbance in the final act.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because the op-ed was never really about Hasan, or about the spectacle Pete Hegseth is planning for December 3. It\u2019s about putting Alex Kozinski\u2019s name back in circulation as someone whose legal opinions are worth noting, and the Wall Street Journal was happy to give him a platform.<\/p>\n

Earlier: <\/strong>Disgraced Former Judge Alex Kozinski Primes Pump For Donald Trump Canceling Elections<\/a>
Disgraced Judge Alex Kozinski Is Back With A Brief Comparing Donald Trump To Galileo<\/a>
Disgraced Former Judge Kozinski Gets Perfect Client: Disgraced Former President Trump<\/a>
Are We Still Citing Judge Kozinski As An Expert?<\/a>
Disgraced Former Judge Alex Kozinski\u2019s Rehabilitation Tour Continues With Oral Argument<\/a>
Former Judge Alex Kozinski Faces Lawsuit Over All That Stuff That Made Him Resign<\/a>
The Biglaw Firm Taking Disgraced Former Judge Kozinski To Dinner<\/a>
The Rehabilitation Of Disgraced Judge Kozinski Has Begun<\/a>
Brett Kavanaugh Shares His Reaction To The Alex Kozinski Sexual Harassment Allegations<\/a>
Case Closed: Judge Kozinski\u2019s Retirement Stops Inquiry Into His Behavior<\/a>
The Biglaw Partner That Called Out Judge Kozinski<\/a>
Breaking: Judge Kozinski Is Retiring Effective Immediately<\/a>
More (Yes, More) Allegations Against Judge Kozinski. Reading Them Will Make You Feel Gross.<\/a>
What Will It Take To Get Alex Kozinski Off The Ninth Circuit?<\/a>
Sources Report 3 Kozinski Clerks Are Out<\/a>
Judge Kozinski Accused Of Sexual Misconduct<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Disgraced Former Judge Alex Kozinski Is Back In The WSJ, This Time Making \u2018The Case For Firing Squads\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Disgraced former Ninth Circuit judge Alex Kozinski has a new op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, which raises the same question it raised the last time he turned up on the Journal\u2019s opinion page<\/a>: who is giving this fucking guy the proverbial mic again?<\/p>\n

Seriously, who is looking to hear from this guy? In 2017, Kozinski retired effective immediately<\/a> after 15 women accused him of sexual harassment. The allegations included showing clerks pornography in chambers and making sexual comments to the women who worked for him<\/a>, and more (yes, more) kept coming<\/a>. His retirement conveniently shut down the misconduct inquiry<\/a>, and he walked away with full benefits. He did lose his standing in the profession, and he has spent the better part of a decade trying to buy it back. He co-authored a brief in the \u201cShape of Water\u201d copyright fight<\/a>. He took a seat at Jenner & Block\u2019s table<\/a> at an industry dinner. He went back to the Ninth Circuit to argue<\/a>. He signed on as Donald Trump\u2019s lawyer<\/a> in the suit to get Trump back on Twitter, then put his name on a brief comparing Trump to Galileo<\/a>. In between, mainstream outlets kept citing him as an expert<\/a>, as if 2017 never happened.<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s stop on the tour is \u201cThe Case for Firing Squads<\/a>,\u201d published Monday. Its news peg is Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth\u2019s plan to execute Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan by firing squad on December 3 and to livestream it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kozinski is very into the firing squad part, but that isn\u2019t news either.<\/p>\n

Kozinski has been pitching this idea for over a decade. In 2014, as chief judge, he dissented in the Joseph Wood case and wrote that if the state is going to kill people, it should drop the pharmaceutical pretense and use rifles. He went on 60 Minutes in 2015 and floated the guillotine<\/a>, then did it again for Lesley Stahl in 2017<\/a>. He told Stahl that if society is going to take a life, \u201cwe should be willing to watch it.\u201d A healthy chunk of the new op-ed is Kozinski quoting his own 2014 dissent back at us \u2014 it\u2019s a rerun with a new Hegseth-shaped intro.<\/p>\n

Listen, he isn\u2019t wrong about lethal injection. It took Wood nearly two hours and 15 injections to die. Christa Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital in Tennessee. As currently practiced, the death penalty has become a horror show staffed by people improvising medical procedures they aren\u2019t trained to perform, and it is likely well past the point of cruel and unusual. Where Kozinski and I part ways is the conclusion. The answer to \u201cthe state can\u2019t kill people humanely\u201d isn\u2019t better aim, it\u2019s that the state should get out of the business of killing people.<\/p>\n

Kozinski\u2019s priorities show in what the op-ed skips. The new and truly horrific part of Hegseth\u2019s plan isn\u2019t the method (the military has used firing squads before), it\u2019s the livestream. No public execution has been held in this country in 90 years, and this one would put the United States in the company of Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, and Somalia. JD Vance said he wouldn\u2019t watch<\/a>, Pope Leo XIV weighed in<\/a>, and even George Will called it barbaric<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kozinski gives all of that one clause in his kicker: he has \u201csome doubts whether livestreaming the execution is advisable.\u201d Then, in the same sentence, he commends Hegseth for his honesty and for showing Hasan mercy. That\u2019s the entire analysis. This is the man who told a national television audience we should be willing to watch, and the livestream is the one question his own framework forces him to answer but Kozinski waves it off on the way to a compliment. This is like writing a theater review of Our American Cousin and briefly mentioning the disturbance in the final act.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because the op-ed was never really about Hasan, or about the spectacle Pete Hegseth is planning for December 3. It\u2019s about putting Alex Kozinski\u2019s name back in circulation as someone whose legal opinions are worth noting, and the Wall Street Journal was happy to give him a platform.<\/p>\n

Earlier: <\/strong>Disgraced Former Judge Alex Kozinski Primes Pump For Donald Trump Canceling Elections<\/a>
Disgraced Judge Alex Kozinski Is Back With A Brief Comparing Donald Trump To Galileo<\/a>
Disgraced Former Judge Kozinski Gets Perfect Client: Disgraced Former President Trump<\/a>
Are We Still Citing Judge Kozinski As An Expert?<\/a>
Disgraced Former Judge Alex Kozinski\u2019s Rehabilitation Tour Continues With Oral Argument<\/a>
Former Judge Alex Kozinski Faces Lawsuit Over All That Stuff That Made Him Resign<\/a>
The Biglaw Firm Taking Disgraced Former Judge Kozinski To Dinner<\/a>
The Rehabilitation Of Disgraced Judge Kozinski Has Begun<\/a>
Brett Kavanaugh Shares His Reaction To The Alex Kozinski Sexual Harassment Allegations<\/a>
Case Closed: Judge Kozinski\u2019s Retirement Stops Inquiry Into His Behavior<\/a>
The Biglaw Partner That Called Out Judge Kozinski<\/a>
Breaking: Judge Kozinski Is Retiring Effective Immediately<\/a>
More (Yes, More) Allegations Against Judge Kozinski. Reading Them Will Make You Feel Gross.<\/a>
What Will It Take To Get Alex Kozinski Off The Ninth Circuit?<\/a>
Sources Report 3 Kozinski Clerks Are Out<\/a>
Judge Kozinski Accused Of Sexual Misconduct<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Disgraced Former Judge Alex Kozinski Is Back In The WSJ, This Time Making \u2018The Case For Firing Squads\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Disgraced former Ninth Circuit judge Alex Kozinski has a new op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, which raises the same question it raised the last time he turned up on the Journal\u2019s opinion page: who is giving this fucking guy the proverbial mic again? Seriously, who is looking to hear from this guy? In 2017, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":164946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}