In a 46-page ruling, Cooper called the effort to protect the judiciary from perceptions of political influence “laudable.” But, the judge said, that intent did not justify a new code of conduct barring employees from participating in political activities open to virtually all other federal workers, including expressing views publicly or on social media about political candidates, attending events for political parties or candidates, joining parties or making donations.

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Lawyers for the U.S. Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and its leaders said they were reacting to an era of “hyper-partisanship.” They expressed particular concern that a member of Congress or aide might question the objectivity of agency staffers, embroil the courts in “cynical partisan disputes” and “grow more emboldened to act in ways that negatively effect the courts,” according to court filings.

Cooper said that if members of Congress and their staff would be likely to retaliate against the entire federal judiciary because a court staffer had a differing party affiliation, “the problem would lie with Congress (and indeed the country).”

“In this Court’s view at least, the First Amendment freedoms of fair and dedicated professionals should not be sacrificed at the altar of partisan myopia,” Cooper concluded.

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The judge likened curbing free speech “because someone might twist routine civic expression to their political advantage” to endorsing “the proverbial heckler’s veto: muffling the speaker in anticipation of a hostile overreaction by the listener.”

The court in August 2018 enjoined the changes from taking effect while the suit continued, part of the first conduct code revision attempted in 20 years.