re: blog outs Tigerdroppings poster as Arkansas judge

There are really two different First Amendment issues in cases such as this.

The first is whether what a sitting judge says is protected speech. That came up in the case where Judge Griffen was sanctioned for commenting on public policy matters including the Richardson v UA lawsuit. That sanction was ultimately overturned on First Amendment grounds. LINK

The second is whether and to what extent the First Amendment protects an anonymous blogger's right to post without their identity being revealed. LINK

Both are developing issues and historically the safest thing for a sitting judge to comment on publicly anyway are those things which affect the administration of justice such as whether judges should be elected, whether judges should be subject to term limits, etc. It is not that it is wrong to comment outside of that area but it does put a judge in a gray area when they do so.