Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is serious about improving workplace conditions for employees of the federal court system.
A week after the Republican said she was in “complete agreement” with the recommended impeachment of a disgraced former Alaska federal judge, she introduced the Judiciary Accountability Act of 2024. The measure would extend protections against discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation and other misconduct to federal court system employees.
The measure is co-sponsored by Hawaii Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono, and House Democrats have introduced a companion bill.
Thanks to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other federal laws, such protections exist for nearly every other employee in the country — both in the public and private sectors — but don’t apply to the federal court system. Scrutiny of the federal court system has been growing in recent years due to ethical breaches by members of the U.S. Supreme Court and the recent resignation of Alaska District Court Judge Joshua Kindred.
Kindred, once a rising star in conservative circles, abruptly resigned this summer ahead of the release of an investigation that accused the judge of fostering a hostile workplace, retaliation and other inappropriate behavior. Even though he resigned, a federal panel recommended that he be impeached for his behavior, which Murkowski supports.
“I am in complete agreement with the Judicial Conference of the United States and their recommendation that former U.S. District Judge Josh Kindred be considered for impeachment,” she said in a statement posted to Twitter last week. “We must send a message that there is zero tolerance for this reprehensible behavior in our judicial system or any workplace in this country.”
The Judiciary Accountability Act would do just that.
The measure would extend federal civil rights protections to the federal court system, allow judicial employees to sue over retaliation, create a judicial misconduct prevention and reporting system to enable employees to make confidential reports and enact regular assessments of harassment and discrimination. While some parts of the federal court system have worked to make improvements, the announcement called the effort “disjointed and confusing” and noted that employees can’t sue over their complaints.
“The Judiciary Accountability Act expands federal laws that prohibit workplace harassment and discrimination to employees of the judiciary, putting them on par with the executive branch, congressional, and private sector employees who have long had these protections,” Murkowski said in a prepared statement. “This legislation not only helps safeguard employees from mistreatment at work, but also establishes a review system to foster accountability when those rights are violated. I appreciate the opportunity to lead this bipartisan legislation with Senator Hirono to cultivate transparency and a positive working environment within the judicial branch.”
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Twitter.
