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So the judge's quote from the article is "and they certainly do not sign up to be a billboard for any given administration's partisan views." I thought that's

So the judge's quote from the article is "and they certainly do not sign up to be a billboard for any given administration's partisan views." I thought that's exactly what you signed up for when you become a government employee.

carefulfungi 1y ago
"... to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." I missed the part where government service wasn't about upholding and implementing the law but was instead about support for a particular party.
- jalapenos 1y ago
  It was probably in the penumbras
raddan 1y ago
There’s a difference between being required to perform the normal functions of the government and being required to espouse a political philosophy. The Hatch Act makes it clear that you can have a political opinion, but that it occurs on your own time. So the rationale of the court is “nobody is allowed to use their office for politics” and “by putting words in government employee mouths, their right to free speech is being abridged.” 5 U.S.C. § 7323(a)(1): “An employee may take an active part in political management or in political campaigns, except an employee may not — (1) use his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.” There’s a lot more after that. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/7323 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/7323
- terminalshort 1y ago
  [flagged]
  - thunderfork 1y ago
    Implementing a policy and personally advocating (in speech) for a political party line are two different things
  - anonymouskimmer 1y ago
    The same way that Eisenhower served under the Democrats FDR and Truman then was elected to the presidency as a Republican? It's a job. With particular job duties. You do those duties regardless of who's in charge. It's just that under one administration those duties are oriented to a particular larger purpose, while under another administration they are oriented to another particular larger purpose. That still doesn't change the vast majority of jobs, and for those few it does, aren't most of them political appointments already?
singpolyma3 1y ago
It's actually mostly forbidden if you're a government employee. You serve the people not the politics

carefulfungi 1y ago

"... to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." I missed the part where government service wasn't about upholding and implementing the law but was instead about support for a particular party.

jalapenos 1y ago
It was probably in the penumbras

raddan 1y ago

There’s a difference between being required to perform the normal functions of the government and being required to espouse a political philosophy. The Hatch Act makes it clear that you can have a political opinion, but that it occurs on your own time. So the rationale of the court is “nobody is allowed to use their office for politics” and “by putting words in government employee mouths, their right to free speech is being abridged.” 5 U.S.C. § 7323(a)(1): “An employee may take an active part in political management or in political campaigns, except an employee may not — (1) use his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.” There’s a lot more after that. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/7323 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/7323

terminalshort 1y ago
[flagged]
- thunderfork 1y ago
  Implementing a policy and personally advocating (in speech) for a political party line are two different things
- anonymouskimmer 1y ago
  The same way that Eisenhower served under the Democrats FDR and Truman then was elected to the presidency as a Republican? It's a job. With particular job duties. You do those duties regardless of who's in charge. It's just that under one administration those duties are oriented to a particular larger purpose, while under another administration they are oriented to another particular larger purpose. That still doesn't change the vast majority of jobs, and for those few it does, aren't most of them political appointments already?

singpolyma3 1y ago

It's actually mostly forbidden if you're a government employee. You serve the people not the politics