[SDUT] Cry, BitchesWASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge refused Friday to block the Pentagon from firing three Stars and Stripes staff members who claim they were illegally disciplined for speaking out about the military news outlet’s need to maintain its editorial independence.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, who was nominated to the bench by Republican President Donald Trump. ruled that the journalists are unlikely to successfully prove that the Pentagon violated their First Amendment free speech rights. He said Stars and Stripes’ editorial independence “is not at stake here.”
“Plaintiffs argue that their termination will chill the protected expression of themselves and others at Stripes,” McFadden wrote. “Plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate a chill here.”
Stars and Stripes publisher Max Lederer, editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and Middle East reporter Lara Korte sued last Thursday in Washington, D.C., to challenge their firings by the Pentagon, which partially funds the news outlet.
Slavin says he was dismissed for insubordination after giving an interview to CBS News in which he objected to potential censorship by the U.S. military. Korte participated in the same interview. Their lawsuit says they were punished in retaliation for publishing a report on deteriorating conditions aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln.