► U.S. Judge Philip Gutierrez of Los Angeles, CA; incompetent boob

The state of California presented Philip Steven Gutierrez with a law license in 1996 after he graduated from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law.

It should be noted that former President George W. Bush was duped into appointing Phil as a United States District Court Judge for the Central District of California in 2007. Phil didn’t get the appointment because he was the most qualified attorney in the LA/Orange County area. He received it because he had proven to be a reliable lackey for the local political hacks.

FYI: Philip has had his significant snout firmly implanted in the public trough for the twenty-three (23) years. Apparently, no self-respecting laws firm in the greater Los Angeles area was about to offer him a good paying job.

In one matter, Phil presided over a case wherein actress Ashley Judd sued convicted sexual predator Harvey Weinstein. In a display of his infinite incompetence and ignorance, Phil dismissed Ms. Judd’s lawsuit on the grounds that her relationship with Weinstein did not fall under California’s sexual harassment law.

Making matters worse as to Phil’s gross incompetence was his dismissal of Ms. Judd’s filing of an amended complaint, which Weinstein moved to dismiss by claiming he and Ms. Judd did not have the requisite “business, service, or professional relationship” under §51.9.”  In his dismissal of the amended complaint, Phil did so “with prejudice,” meaning Ms. Judd was forever precluded from pursing the claim in the future.

Subsequently, Ms. Judd appealed Phil’s asinine dismissal of her case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal. The appellate court reversed Phil’s ruling and in doing so made the following statements.

• “The relationship between Judd and Weinstein was characterized by a considerable imbalance of power substantially similar to the imbalances that characterize the enumerated relationships in section 51.9.”
• “By virtue of his professional position and influence as a top producer in Hollywood, Weinstein was uniquely situated to exercise coercive power or leverage over Judd, who was a young actor at the beginning of her career at the time of the alleged harassment.”
• “Nothing in the language of section 51.9 requires a fiduciary relationship.”
• “The amendment [to 51.9] explicitly added producers, directors, and elected officials to the statute shortly after an outpouring of sexual harassment and assault allegations against individuals in these categories.”
• “The fact that the Legislature found it necessary to amend the statute to explicitly include producers and others is evidence that it may have had some doubts as to whether these relationships were covered by existing law.”

It goes without saying that Phil doesn’t much give a damn when he’s overturned (rebuked in truth) by the appellate court since he is well aware that no federal  judge has ever been tossed off the bench for being an incompetent boob. In addition, he certainly isn’t concerned with the cost to the taxpayers of having his asinine ruling overturned.

As we speak (ca. September 2020), Phil continues to sit as U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles, California.