Hatch Act of 1939
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Template:Expand The Hatch Act of 1939 is a United States federal law whose main provision is to prohibit federal employees (civil servants) from engaging in partisan political activity. Named after Senator Carl Hatch of New Mexico, the law was officially known as An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities.
Specifically, the act precluded federal employees from membership in "any political organization which advocates the overthrow of our constitutional form of government." During the Second Red Scare this designation was interpreted to include communist and labor organizations.
On or about July 29, 2004, the United States Office of Special Counsel cited this Act while ordering NASA to remove photos of then Senator John Kerry on a visit to the Kennedy Space Center. Evidently, this was due to some unflattering photos of Kerry in a clean room body suit taken during the visit.