SCOTUS: states can prevent judicial election candidates from soliciting campaign contributions
The US Supreme Court has ruled, 5-4, that states can prevent judicial election candidates from soliciting campaign contributions. Read the ruling (Williams-Yulee v. Florida Bar) here.
The case revolved around a candidate for a judge seat in Florida who sent out a mass mailing asking for campaign contributions and solicited donations on her website. She was fined for violating the state's code of judicial conduct, so she sued, arguing that the restriction violated her right to free speech. But a majority of justices disagreed. "The State may conclude that judges, charged with exercising strict neutrality and independence, cannot supplicate campaign donors without diminishing public confidence in judicial integrity," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his majority opinion. Roberts was joined by the court's four liberals. The other conservatives on the court, including sometime swing vote Anthony Kennedy, dissented, arguing that the restriction unfairly infringed judicial candidates' right to free speech.
Source: Vox