Fourth Circuit rules for NAIJ on unraised CSRA jurisdiction argument

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled on August 22, 2023 that federal district courts lacked jurisdiction over NAIJ's speech-restriction lawsuit because the Civil Service Reform Act channeled such employment disputes exclusively to the Merit Systems Protection Board. The panel raised this jurisdictional argument sua sponte — on its own initiative — even though neither party had briefed or argued it. The court dismissed the case without reaching the First Amendment merits, leaving NAIJ without a judicial remedy in federal district court.