Ohio Magistrate Fails to Revive Campaign Speech Suit on Appeal

A former Ohio county magistrate failed to revive her lawsuit alleging her termination over statements she made while campaigning violated her First Amendment rights.

Jacqueline Gaines’ campaign speech was “inextricably bound up in the policies of the court” that Denise Cross, who fired Gaines, presided over as administrative judge, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said Friday. Because those statements undermined the trust Cross had in Gaines’ continued service, her firing didn’t violate the First Amendment, Senior Judge Alice M. Batchelder wrote for the panel.

While campaigning for a spot on Montgomery County’s domestic relations court ...