Judge refuses to block Pentagon from firing Stars and Stripes staffers over CBS interview
- A federal judge refused to block the Pentagon from firing three Stars and Stripes staff members who claimed they were illegally disciplined for speaking about editorial independence.
- U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden ruled that the journalists are unlikely to prove the Pentagon violated their First Amendment rights, stating that Stars and Stripes' editorial independence is not at stake.
- Stars and Stripes editor-in-chief Erik Slavin was dismissed for insubordination after giving a CBS News interview objecting to potential military censorship; reporter Lara Korte participated in the same interview.
- The judge concluded that Slavin and Korte gave the interviews as part of their official duties as public employees, not as private citizens, and therefore the firings do not clearly violate the First Amendment.
- Publisher Max Lederer was dismissed shortly after announcing his retirement, following the Pentagon's installation of a new active-duty deputy publisher at the newspaper without his knowledge.
A federal judge on Friday declined to block the Pentagon from terminating three staff members of Stars and Stripes, a military news outlet, who had challenged their dismissals as retaliation for speaking publicly about editorial independence. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden ruled that the journalists had failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success in proving that the Pentagon violated their First Amendment free speech rights.
Editor-in-chief Erik Slavin was fired for insubordination following a CBS News interview in which he objected to potential military censorship. Reporter Lara Korte participated in the same interview. The judge determined that since both gave the interviews as part of their official duties as public employees rather than as private citizens, their terminations do not clearly violate the First Amendment, despite the plaintiffs' argument that the firings would chill protected expression.
Publisher Max Lederer was also dismissed shortly after announcing his impending retirement, following the Pentagon's unilateral installation of an active-duty service member as deputy publisher beneath him. The plaintiffs' legal team stated they remain confident in ultimately prevailing once discovery proceeds and additional facts emerge during litigation.
法官拒绝阻止五角大楼解雇《星条旗报》员工因其参加CBS采访
联邦法官周五拒绝阻止五角大楼解雇军事新闻媒体《星条旗报》的三名员工，这些员工曾对其解雇提出异议，声称这是对其公开谈论编辑独立性的报复。美国地区法官特雷弗·麦克法登裁定，这些记者未能证明五角大楼违反其第一修正案言论自由权的可能性。
主编埃里克·斯拉文因在CBS新闻采访中反对潜在的军事审查而被指控违抗命令后遭解雇。记者劳拉·科尔特参加了同一采访。法官认定，由于两人是作为公职员工在执行官方职责而非以私人身份进行采访，他们的解雇不明显违反第一修正案，尽管原告主张解雇会抑制受保护的言论。
出版商马克斯·莱德勒也在宣布即将退休后不久被解雇，此前五角大楼单方面任命一名现役军人担任其下属的副出版商。原告的法律团队表示，他们对最终胜诉充满信心，一旦诉讼中进行证据开示并出现更多事实，他们相信能够成功。