By Michael Kunzelman
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.”