Meet the new Pentagon press policy, same as the old Pentagon press policy

“As the Supreme Court has repeatedly held, journalists are entitled to publish what their sources tell them. If the Pentagon has a constitutional basis to restrict what its employees tell the press, that’s a matter between the Pentagon and its employees. The press doesn’t work for the government and any policy that purports to require the press to help the government keep secrets from the American public is unconstitutional. The revised policy does exactly that by threatening to revoke journalists’ access if they publish information obtained through ‘unauthorized’ disclosures. The closure of the workspace for the press further demonstrates the government’s censorial and retributive motives.

“We were pleased to hear that The New York Times is headed back to court to enforce the judge’s ruling and we hope the judge is not generous with second chances. The revised policy is not a good faith effort to comply with Judge Friedman’s order. It adds mostly meaningless window dressing while retaining the core constitutional violation — subjecting journalists to punishment for doing their jobs. Noncompliance with judicial orders is punishable through monetary sanctions, attorney disciplinary referrals, and contempt of court, including imprisonment pending compliance. It’s past time that this administration, its officials, and its lawyers start facing real consequences for ignoring court orders and the Constitution.”