Winter v. Wolnitzek

AMENDED MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER

Amul R. Thaper, United States District Judge

This case sits at the confluence of two First Amendment streams. In one line of cases, the Supreme Court has made clear that restrictions on political speech are almost always unconstitutional.1 The rea*678son is that “speech concerning public affairs is more than self-expression; it is the essence of self-government.” Garrison v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 64, 74-75, 85 S.Ct. 209, 13 L.Ed.2d 125 (1964). In the other line, however, the Court has made clear that a state may nevertheless regulate the political speech of judges…