A U.S. federal district judge on Thursday granted a request to force the Defense Department to restore reporters’ access to the Pentagon.
Judge Friedman ruled yesterday that the defendants had still not complied with a March court order:
The ministry cannot take steps to circumvent the court’s injunction and expect the court to turn a blind eye. But that is exactly what the defendants did by closing the correspondent corridor and introducing an obligation to accompany them. The court order requires the department to restore the plaintiffs’ access to the Pentagon. Instead of complying with this order, the Department has denied all PFAC holders meaningful access to the Pentagon.
Essentially, the court said, the Defense Department “relied on slightly different language to achieve the same unconstitutional result.” The judge issued one command order the government to enforce the new regulations against qualified journalists.
Dozens of journalists walked out of the Pentagon in October, surrendering their badges and refusing to comply with the changes. In December, The New York Times and one of its reporters sued the Defense Department, saying the rules violated the law First And Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution. Specifically, the plaintiffs argued that it was a directive Viewpoint basedThis is a type of classification that is highly unfavorable and highly suspect in First Amendment jurisprudence.
Additionally, the plaintiffs argued that the requirement to obtain government approval before submitting specific information was a problem previous reluctance to speech that is unconstitutional and “unduly chills speech” by discouraging the vigorous debate that the First Amendment is designed to protect.
Just last month, Judge Paul Friedman agreed. He ordered that the Ministry of Defense restore the credentials of certain journalists and also repeal certain provisions of the policy that he declared unconstitutional. The federal government then tried to get around this arrangement by implementing a revised policy The would expel all reporters from the Pentagon unless they were accompanied by escorts.
The order is part of a long dispute between journalists and the federal government over the new rules, some of which require all reporters to lose their access to the Pentagon for reporting on unauthorized information.
