9th Circuit upholds Arizona's restrictions on judicial campaign activities
A federal appeals court has found that Arizona’s restrictions on judicial campaign activities do not violate the First Amendment.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the restrictions in an opinion (PDF) on Wednesday. Courthouse News Service and the Metropolitan News-Enterprise have stories.
“Judges engaging in political acts may present different levels of impropriety in different situations,” the court said. “It is not our proper role to second-guess Arizona’s decision in this regard.”
The court ruled in an appeal by unsuccessful judicial candidate Randolph Wolfson. He challenged provisions of the judicial conduct code that barred judges and judicial candidates from:
• Personally soliciting campaign contributions for their own campaigns or for campaigns of other candidates or other political groups.
• Endorsing other candidates for public office.
• Making speeches on behalf of other candidates or political organizations.
• Actively taking part in other political campaigns.
A three-judge panel of the appeals court had ruled in May 2014 that the provisions were unconstitutional. Before the en banc hearing, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Williams-Yulee v. Florida Bar, which held that states may ban judicial candidates from personally soliciting campaign contributions.
The 9th Circuit case is Wolfson v. Concannon.
Hat tip to How Appealing.
