Updated: As more women come forward with allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct against Judge Alex Kozinski, the question arises: Will the complaints have any impact? A first step was taken Thursday when Chief Judge Sidney Thomas of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals filed an order initiating a complaint against the appeals judge based on a Dec. 8 Washington Post article.

Six former clerks or externs for Kozinski told the Washington Post that he subjected them to inappropriate sexual comments or behavior. Two former clerks said Kozinski asked them to look at pornography in his chambers, and others said Kozinski had made sexual comments.

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Stanford law professor Deborah Rhode offered another possibility. “The court could decide not assign cases to him,” she told the Careerist, “and, I hope, word [of his alleged abuse] will get out to students who are applying for clerkships.”