"Was it prurient? I don't know what to tell you."

I mean, seriously, is bestiality ever prurient?

I'll back up.

A federal appeals court judge has a family Web site, complete with all the standard stuff -- family photos, legal writings... and a video of a man "cavorting with a sexually aroused farm animal," according to the AP.

Alex Kozinski, 57, the chief judge of the federal appeals court in California, was forced to suspend an obscenity trial yesterday after the L.A. Times reported that his Web site featured pornography.

"Is it prurient? I don't know what to tell you," he told the L.A. Times. "I think it's odd and interesting. It's part of life."

From the L.A. Times, which reported the hell out of the story:

Among the images on the site were a photo of naked women on all fours painted to look like cows and a video of a half-dressed man cavorting with a sexually aroused farm animal. He defended some of the adult content as "funny" but conceded that other postings were inappropriate.

More:

The sexually explicit material on the site was extensive, including images of masturbation, public sex and contortionist sex. There was a slide show striptease featuring a transsexual, and a folder that contained a series of photos of women's crotches in snug-fitting clothing or underwear.

Kozinski told The Times that he began saving the sexually explicit materials and other items of interest on his website years ago.

"People send me stuff like this all the time," he said.

Among the sexually explicit material on his site that he defended as humorous were two photos. In one, a young man is bent over in a chair and performing fellatio on himself. In the other, two women are sitting in what appears to be a cafe with their skirts hiked up to reveal their pubic hair and genitalia. Behind them is a sign reading "Bush for President."

"That is a funny joke," Kozinski said.

Here's his quote to the New York Times:

“I guess I should be more careful about access and all,” he said. “I didn’t put anything on there I think would be embarrassing.”

From the AP:

He suspended until Monday the trial of Ira Isaacs, who is charged with obscenity for selling movies depicting bestiality and extreme fetishes involving feces and urination.

Now. Kozinski, who was seriously considered by H.W. for the Supreme Courts seats that ultimately went to Souter and Thomas, is no Larry Craig (or Clarence Thomas, for that matter) -- this is a guy who has always been an avid supporter of porn.

In 2001, he fought federal court administrators in D.C. over porn-blocking Web filters that they installed on government computers. From a government computer room in San Francisco, he personally disabled the filters for three appellate circuits and began a back-and-forth with the court administrators. They caved.

From the AP:

He has written video game reviews for the Wall Street Journal, and his prolific commentary on everything from the death penalty to the use of Yiddish in the law has appeared in legal journals and mainstream media alike.

I'll keep you people updated on this stuff... or you could just read the LAT........