Pentagon Journalist Escort Requirement Can Continue Pending D.C. Circuit Decision

A federal appeals court has allowed the Pentagon's requirement that credentialed journalists be escorted at all times on Pentagon grounds to remain in effect while the government appeals a lower court ruling. The D.C. Circuit panel, in a 2-1 decision, stayed a district court injunction that had blocked the escort policy. The majority, Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson and Patricia Millett, found the government likely to succeed on its argument that the generally applicable, evenhandedly applied escort requirement does not constitute a sufficiently adverse action to support a First Amendment retaliation claim. Judge Bradley Garcia dissented, arguing the district court had properly found the policy retaliatory based on evidence of hostile statements by Pentagon officials and the policy's burdensome impact on journalistic work. The case, brought by The New York Times and reporter Julian Barnes, has been set for expedited oral argument.