A federal judge ordered the Pentagon to temporarily halt the requirement that New York Times journalists inside the building need an official escort, though the order did not specify whether it applies to other journalists as well.U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman issued his preliminary ruling on Tuesday, deciding that the policy violated the First Amendment.“This court has spoken at several points about the critical importance of protecting the freedoms enshrined in the First Amendment, and that evergreen message bears repeating,” Friedman, a Clinton-appointed judge, wrote.
The ruling is an early victory for the New York Times, which has fought against efforts to restrict journalists’ access in the Pentagon.“Today’s well-reasoned decision reaffirms the First Amendment rights of the press to cover the Pentagon without restrictions designed to prevent the public from knowing what the military is doing,” Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesperson for the newspaper, said. “The court recognized that the Pentagon’s hastily implemented new policy was a clear violation of the Constitution.”Top Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the department “strongly disagrees” with the decision, and that “This ruling strips away reasonable security measures and will make it easier for sensitive and classified information to reach our adversaries.”“Unescorted access to the Pentagon allowed journalists to observe activity patterns and develop relationships that contributed to repeated unauthorized disclosures of operational plans and intelligence. The court’s order effectively restores that risky environment at a time when protecting our military’s secrets is more critical than ever,” he added.JUDGE RULES PENTAGON PRESS RESTRICTIONS UNLAWFULLast year, dozens of credentialed reporters, including at the Washington Examiner, refused to sign a new policy from the Pentagon authorizing them to revoke the press passes of reporters it labels “security risks” if they sought information, even unclassified, from officials who were not authorized to speak to the news media.The Times filed a lawsuit in December over the policy, and Friedman sided with them in a March ruling. Shortly after, the Pentagon released a revised set of rules, which included the escort requirement.
