In March, U.S. District Judge Arthur D. Spatt dismissed the case, saying that because the assistant corporation counsel’s duties include litigating cases on behalf of the city and its employees, and drafting legal documents, “the court finds that this status is a policymaking position that falls outside the protection of the First Amendment. Indeed, federal courts have uniformly held that government attorneys occupy such positions inherently demanding political loyalty …”

Hommel — who returned to work as a deputy county attorney after he was fired — said he considered appealing the ruling, but decided not to. “In my mind, it was clearly politically motivated,” he said of his termination. “My issue with Judge Spatt’s ruling was that I was running for City Court judge, not a City Council position, and his analysis that I was a policymaker is one that I’m not entirely in agreement with.”