‘Advocate for the Democratic Party’: Democrat judge loses free-speech appeal over partisan social media posts

Last week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an opinion on the free-speech parameters for sitting judges in the commonwealth in a major decision related to a 2024 case.

The case concerned former Judge Mark B. Cohen, a Democrat who was suspended from the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas by the Court of Judicial Discipline in October 2024 over his outspoken political posts on Facebook.

‘When, as here, a sitting judge adopts the persona of a political party spokesperson and abuses the prestige of his office to advance that party’s interests, he detracts from the reputation of the entire judiciary.’

These posts, the Philly Voice reported, involved, for example, Cohen’s views about former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the hammer attack on California Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s husband,