Last year I tangled with federal district court Judge Kopf over his writing on his blog, “Hercules and the Umpire,” and particularly his statement that members of the United States Supreme Court should “STFU.”  The judge kept blogging then, but he recently quit blogging after he heard from his Chief Judge that a “great majority” of court staff thought his work was an embarassment to the court.

He just gave an exclusive interview to Tony Mauro. You should read the whole thing, but here are two pertinent excerpts about the STFU episode:

NLJ: With benefit of hindsight, do you think you should have stayed your pen, so to speak, and not posted your more controversial opinions? I’ll ask about some of them, one by one. First, telling the Supreme Court to STFU because it decided to rule on the Hobby Lobby case involving contraceptive coverage in health care plans.

Kopf: First, nothing that follows is intended to make excuses for my many errors. I don’t regret writing most of the Hobby Lobby post. The last sentence is the one I regret. Specifically, I do regret using “STFU.” Using that acronym was unnecessary and distracting; it was also too cute by (at least) half….

NLJ: You’ve gone back and forth with Rick Hasen after he said about you, “A judge who blogs should not say ‘STFU’ to the Supreme Court,” and suggested you retire.

Kopf: The subject of Rick Hasen is a sore spot and one that I lack the objectivity (and perhaps the guts) to answer honestly. Except to say that professor Hasen is widely respected by many others, I pass.