Judges are public figures and although it hurts are subject to pretty vigorous criticism by lawyers. While one would like to hope that judges would have elephant like hides and attorneys would have the grace to make their views known in a forceful but dignified way, occasionally there is a collision between a thin skinned judge and a less than dignified attorney. 

“The balance between an attorney’s right to free political speech and a state’s right to regulate attorney conduct is delicate.” So begins the opinion of the court that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued recently.  The opinion is an interesting analysis.