A federal judge has dismissed a years-long free-speech lawsuit by a sidelined Santa Clara County prosecutor against District Attorney Jeff Rosen, but the turmoil between the two will continue as the plaintiff is pursuing a second appeal — and a second political run to unseat his boss.

Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, of the Northern District of California, decided earlier this month to dismiss Daniel Chung’s First Amendment lawsuit alleging that he was the victim of retaliation for writing a February 2021 editorial submission . The opinion article, published in The Mercury News, argued that criminal-justice reforms had weakened consequences for serious offenders.

The heart of the First Amendment disagreement between Chung and Rosen was whether Chung was writing in his personal capacity

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