U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden refused to order the three back to work. In a 24-page ruling, he found they spoke as government employees doing their jobs, not as private citizens. So they are unlikely to prove a First Amendment violation. The Defense Department funds Stars and Stripes, and its staff work for the government. That is why the employee-speech test applies.
- Fired: publisher Max Lederer, editor-in-chief Erik Slavin, and reporter Lara Korte.
- McFadden said they were fired "for giving pre-approved interviews on their paper's behalf in which they largely toed the company line." On his reading, what they said did not matter: the speech was part of the job, so it was not protected either way.
- The ruling denies early relief while the case goes on. It is not a final decision on the merits. The story does not give the Pentagon's stated grounds for the firings, the date of the CBS interview, or any appeal plan.