Federal judge allows Pentagon to fire three Stars and Stripes journalists

Daniel Slim/AFP/Getty Images

A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Pentagon can fire three Stars and Stripes journalists, the latest in a series of blows to press freedoms in the military as the agency has sought to undo the newspaper’s editorial independence.

US District Judge Trevor McFadden denied temporary restraining order requests from Stars and Stripes publisher Max Lederer, editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and Middle East reporter Lara Korte, allowing the Pentagon to move forward with their firings. Friday’s written ruling claims the government likely did not violate the journalists’ First Amendment rights.

“Plaintiffs ultimately fail to carry their significant burden to show that they are clearly entitled to a preliminary injunction,” McFadden wrote.

McFadden’s denial of the temporary restraining orders is a setback for Slavin, Lederer and Korte, who sought to be reinstated to their positions. An attorney for the trio said they were “disappointed” with the ruling.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. It’s unclear whether the agency has fired the trio since McFadden’s ruling.

Lederer, Slavin and Korte sued the Pentagon on August 28, one week after they alleged they were illegally pushed out , accusing it of doing so over personal statements protected under the First Amendment.

The lawsuit claims the Pentagon was displeased with a July 5 “CBS Sunday Morning” segment that included statements by Slavin and Korte about changes to Stars and Stripes’ independence. After the military newspaper reported on hardships aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, the Pentagon directed Lederer to push out Slavin and Korte, which he did not do, according to the lawsuit. Lederer would later announce his retirement.

In his ruling, McFadden wrote that Slavin and Korte “requested and received permission from their superiors for their remarks in advance.” Later in the filing, McFadden argued that “Plaintiffs’ own pleadings and the CBS News segment suggest that they spoke as part of their official duties and not as private citizens.”

“They are thus unlikely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment claim and do not demonstrate irreparable harm,” wrote McFadden, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017.

In Lederer’s case, McFadden wrote that his “failure to carry out a directive from a supervisor finds no shelter under the First Amendment.”

Elsewhere in the ruling, McFadden wrote that the trio’s “real complaint seems to be that they were victims of a cruel bait-and-switch.”

“Perhaps discovery will strengthen Plaintiffs’ case. But at bottom, on the current record, Plaintiffs’ real complaint seems to be that they were victims of a cruel bait-and-switch,” McFadden wrote. “They are being fired for giving pre-approved interviews on their paper’s behalf in which they largely toed the company line. Whatever else such a scheme may violate, it does not clearly offend the First Amendment.”

The ruling follows a Friday morning hearing, which came on the final day of a week-long reprieve from the Pentagon that temporarily stayed the trio’s terminations.

McFadden’s ruling is a blow for press freedoms within the US military. Stars and Stripes, which is partially funded by the agency, has a decades-long record of editorial independence. In January, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell posted on X that the Department of War sought to “ modernize ” the military newspaper’s operations and “refocus its content away from woke distractions.”

That same month, the Pentagon moved to repeal the Stripes regulations that protected the outlet’s editorial independence.

In addition to the lawsuit by Slavin, Lederer and Korte, the Pentagon faces two other lawsuits from individuals associated with Stars and Stripes. In early June, two advisory board members sued the agency over the “modernization” efforts, claiming they amount to illegal censorship. Later that month, the outlet’s ombudsman sued the agency , alleging First Amendment violations after being forced out in April.

Daniel Slim/AFP/Getty Images

周五，一名联邦法官裁定，五角大楼可以解雇三名《星条旗报》记者。这是该机构试图削弱《星条旗报》编辑独立性以来，军方新闻自由遭受的一系列打击中的最新一起。

美国地区法官特雷弗·麦克法登驳回了《星条旗报》出版人马克斯·莱德勒、总编辑埃里克·斯拉文和中东记者拉拉·科特提出的临时限制令申请，允许五角大楼继续推进对他们的解雇。周五发布的书面裁决称，政府可能并未侵犯记者的第一修正案权利。

“原告最终未能履行其重大举证责任，证明他们显然有权获得初步禁令，”麦克法登写道。

麦克法登驳回了斯拉文、莱德勒和科特提出的临时限制令申请，这对他们三人寻求复职的努力来说无疑是一次挫折。三人的律师表示，他们对这一裁决感到“失望”。

五角大楼尚未回复CNN的置评请求。目前尚不清楚自麦克法登裁决以来，该机构是否已解雇这三人。

莱德勒、斯拉文和科特于 8 月 28 日起诉五角大楼，此前一周，他们声称自己被非法驱逐，并指控五角大楼这样做是因为他们发表了受美国宪法第一修正案保护的个人言论。

诉讼称，五角大楼对7月5日“CBS周日早间新闻”节目中斯拉文和科特关于《星条旗报》独立性变革的言论感到不满。诉讼还称，在《星条旗报》报道了“亚伯拉罕·林肯”号航空母舰上的艰苦情况后，五角大楼指示莱德勒解雇斯拉文和科特，但他并未执行。莱德勒后来宣布退休。

麦克法登在裁决书中写道，斯拉文和科特“事先向上级申请并获得了发表这些言论的许可”。在随后的文件中，麦克法登辩称，“原告自己的诉状和哥伦比亚广播公司新闻报道表明，他们是在履行公务时发表的言论，而不是以私人身份发表的。”

“因此，他们不太可能在宪法第一修正案的诉求上获得成功，也没有证明存在不可弥补的损害，”麦克法登写道。麦克法登于 2017 年由唐纳德·特朗普总统任命。

麦克法登写道，莱德勒的“不执行上级指令的行为，不受第一修正案的保护”。

在判决书的其他部分，麦克法登写道，这三人的“真正抱怨似乎是他们成为了残酷的诱饵和转换骗局的受害者”。

“或许调查取证会加强原告的诉讼理由。但归根结底，就目前的记录来看，原告真正的诉求似乎是他们遭遇了残酷的诱饵陷阱，”麦克法登写道。“他们因为代表报社接受事先批准的采访而被解雇，而他们在采访中基本上都遵循了公司的立场。无论这种做法可能违反了其他什么法律，它显然没有违反宪法第一修正案。”

裁决是在周五上午的听证会之后作出的，而听证会是五角大楼为期一周的暂缓执行令的最后一天，该暂缓令暂时中止了对这三人的解雇。

麦克法登的裁决对美国军方内部的新闻自由是一次打击。《星条旗报》部分资金来自该机构，几十年来一直保持着编辑独立性。今年1月，五角大楼首席发言人肖恩·帕内尔在X网站上发帖称，战争部试图“现代化”这份军报的运作，并“使其内容摆脱觉醒主义的干扰”。

同月，五角大楼采取行动，废除了保护《星条旗报》编辑独立性的相关规定。

除了斯拉文、莱德勒和科特提起的诉讼外，五角大楼还面临另外两起来自与《星条旗报》有关联的个人的诉讼。6月初，两名顾问委员会成员就该机构的“现代化”举措提起诉讼，声称这些举措构成非法审查。当月晚些时候，该报的监察员在4月份被迫离职后，也对该机构提起诉讼，指控其违反了宪法第一修正案。