I protect the right of federal judiciary employees to engage in partisan politics outside ...

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I protect the right of federal judiciary employees to engage in partisan political expression outside the office.

Link to tweet

[33taw]

1. I worked for a judicial department for 32 years and every attempt to

change this policy failed. Do you want to see a Trump sign on the lawn of a Clerk of Court when you are filing a case for an election at midnight on election night (and yes -that happens).

[Nictuku]

2. 21 Years for me in the Judiciary

I was just IT support, but the same rules applied. I took the same Oath of Office, and had to follow the Canons. (You can't donate to campaigns, nor can you publically display any form of partisanship, including on social media.)

However, I am torn about this policy. On the one hand, I felt like it did violate my first amendment rights, but on the other hand, I was very proud of the fact that there were zero politics within the walls of the offices and courts.

In the end, I don't want the Judiciary to be political. And I think you made a great point by pointing out seeing Trump signs on the Clerk of Court's front lawn would be very intimidating.

The one thing that blew my mind was when I found out that the Supreme Court did not have to follow these canons. I think they are trying to change that now (looking at you Ginny Thomas), but we will need more democratic representatives elected to get it passed.

I was around a lot of judges, I did tech support for judicial conferences, and I am very proud to say that it was a rare occasion that I ever even heard mention of politics or politicians in all my years working with them.

However, I was extremely grateful that they couldn't read my mind!!!! (this one goes to Sandra Day O'Connor, shortly after the Bush v. Gore case when she was a guest speaker).

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Federal judiciary can't stop support staff from political activity

LEGAL ISSUES

Federal judiciary can’t stop support staff from political activity

By Rachel Weiner
August 18, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

In March 2018, while weighing candidates for governor in Maryland, Lisa Guffey wanted to attend an event featuring Democrat Ben Jealous.

She was told she could not. Her employer, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC), had two days earlier imposed new rules barring all employees from expressing political views, attending political events or engaging in political activity.

This week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit deemed those restrictions unconstitutional.

“The government cannot condition public employment on the complete surrender of a citizen’s First Amendment rights,” wrote the majority of the three-judge panel in an opinion released Tuesday.



Lisa Guffey, 55, fought successfully for her right to engage in political activity outside of her administrative work in the U.S. federal court system. (Shala Graham)

Guffey, 55, of Silver Spring, Md., said in an interview that the rules immediately struck her as unconstitutional, but she complied with them until the courts agreed. ... “I can be both an active private citizen and a public servant and I’m glad the court recognized that,” she said. “There is no conflict between my work and what I did on my own time as a private citizen of this country, of the state of Maryland, of Montgomery County.”

{snip}

By Rachel Weiner
Rachel Weiner covers federal courts in Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Va. Twitter https://twitter.com/rachelweinerwp