SCOTUS slams door on Dem judge’s career fight after years of pro-Biden Facebook posts

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away an appeal from Mark Cohen, a suspended Pennsylvania judge who had been disciplined over a long run of partisan Facebook posts. The justices denied his petition without explanation, leaving in place the state's punishment and ending his bid to have the federal courts treat it as a free-speech violation, according to Fox News.

Cohen, a Democrat who once served in the state legislature, took a seat on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in 2018. He kept posting politically charged material while on the bench, despite being told to stop. Examples included praise for Joe Biden's Build Back Better legislation in November 2021 and a birthday message a year later calling the then-president an excellent leader. Pennsylvania's highest court found that the number and tone of the posts made Cohen look like an advocate for his party.

His attorneys filed in April, contending that sanctioning judges for how often or in what manner they speak lawfully allows selective enforcement and political meddling. Pennsylvania's Judicial Conduct Board countered that the posts were "partisan cheerleading" and that the suspension simply applied long-accepted standards.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →