Senior Judge Paul Friedman of the US District Court for the DC said Thursday that the #Trump admin’s decision to remove credentialed #reporters from the #Pentagon in response to his ruling striking down a prior #press policy “flouts the Court’s explicit directives & disregards the constitutional principles at the heart” of his March order.

#Hegseth #law #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreePress #FreeSpeech #journalism #FourthEstate

In a 20-pg opinion, Friedman described a dangerous “curtailment of First Amendment rights,” made “even more so in a time of #war.” The judge said that he has received “dozens of letters & postcards from people across the country” over the past few weeks about what the #FirstAmendment means to them.

#law #Constitution #FreePress #FreeSpeech #press #journalism #FourthEstate #access #Trump #Hegseth #dictatorship #fascism #propaganda

“The Court cannot conclude this Opinion without noting once again what this case is really about: the attempt by the Secretary of #Defense to #dictate the #information received by the American people, to control the message so that the public hears & sees only what the Secretary & the #Trump Administration want them to hear & see,” Friedman appointee wrote.

#law #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreePress #FreeSpeech #press #journalism #FourthEstate #Hegseth #dictatorship #fascism #propaganda

…The #Defense Dept’s revived #press policy, issued March 23, moved #media offices to a separate building & required credentialed #reporters be escorted by dept personnel while in the #Pentagon.
It also prohibited “intentional inducement of unauthorized disclosure,” & says if a #journalist offers a person anonymity to disclose #information, it would create a “rebuttable presumption” that the reporter knew the employee wasn’t allowed to share it.

#law #Constitution #FirstAmendment #Trump #Hegseth

#Reporters have previously been allowed to #access parts of the #Pentagon without escorts, & had offices in the building.

A #DOJ attorney argued at a March court hearing that the administration “fully complied” with the judge’s order, & that if the NYT wanted to challenge the latest policy, it needed to update its lawsuit.

#law #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreePress #FreeSpeech #press #journalism #FourthEstate #Trump #Hegseth #dictatorship #fascism #propaganda

But Friedman wrote that the #Defense Dept “cannot simply reinstate an unlawful policy under the guise of taking ‘new’ action & expect the Court to look the other way.”

“Nor can the Department take steps to circumvent the Court’s injunction & expect the Court to turn a blind eye. But that is exactly what the defendants have done by closing the Correspondents’ Corridor & imposing an escort requirement,” he said.

#law #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreePress #journalism #access #Trump #Hegseth