Kentucky judges and judicial candidates can elect to ally with a political party as the 6th Circuit ruled that the state judicial commission violated a judicial candidate’s free speech rights by censoring “lifelong Republican” from his campaign materials. The court found that the policies preventing judges from asking for campaign donations and endorsing political candidates were necessary to protect the integrity of the judiciary and supported the ban on judge’s holding office in a political organization. (Courthouse News Service, August 25, 2016, by David Wells)
The decision also struck down the ban on misleading statements as long as the statements were not intentionally false. The 6th Circuit expressed its desire to support the state its goal of non-partisan judicial elections while keeping the First Amendment in force. (Courier-Journal, August 24, 2016, by Andrew Wolfson)
The 6th Circuit was applying the recent Supreme Court decision Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar which held that the state could restrict direct solicitation of contributions in judicial elections. The 6th Circuit held that prohibition against making speeches for or against a political party was unconstitutional for its lack of narrow tailoring. (Constitutional Law Prof Blog, August 24, 2016, by Ruthann Robson)