Do Lawyers Have a 1st Amendment Right to Be Cross with Judges?

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A federal appeals court upheld sanctions against a veteran Florida bankruptcy lawyer who called a judge's findings "half-baked," and then sent a bottle of wine to his chambers with a handwritten note. The case raised an interesting question, at least in theory: What First Amendment rights do lawyers have to get sharp with judges? Lawyer Kevin Gleason disagreed with a ruling by Bankruptcy Judge John Olson, and he let the judge know it. "It is sad when a man of your intellectual ability cannot get it right when your own record does not support your half-baked findings," Mr. Gleason, whose practice is based in Hollywood, Fla., wrote in a brief filed in April 2011. The dispute concerned commissions Mr. Gleason's client received from a real estate deal. Judge Olson ruled that the commissions had to be turned over to the administrator of the client's Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan. Mr. Gleason believed they were exempt. A couple weeks later, Mr. Gleason delivered a bottle of wine to Judge Olson's chambers, with a hand-written note that read: “Dear Judge Olson, A Donnybrook ends when someone. . .

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/10/16/do-lawyers-have-a-first-amendment-right-to-be-cross-with-judges/?mod=WSJBlog

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