An excerpt from today's long Fourth Circuit decision in Nat'l Ass'n of Immig. Judges v. Owen (Judge Nicole Berner, joined by Judges Pamela Harris and Toby Heytens):

The National Association of Immigration Judges brought this [First Amendment] challenge to an employee policy that requires immigration judges to obtain permission before speaking publicly on issues relating to immigration…. The district court dismissed the case …, concluding that the policy could only be challenged through the administrative procedures established by the Civil Service Reform Act…. When a federal employee seeks relief from an action covered by the Civil Service Reform Act, she is required to comply with the prescribed scheme of administrative and judicial review and may not generally bring an initial claim in

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