Appeals Court Blocks White House From Suspending Reporter's Press Pass
Source: New York Times
Appeals Court Blocks White House From Suspending Reporter's Press Pass
The ruling came with assurance that the White House could remove any "rogue, mooning journalists" if such a disruption were to happen.
By Charlie Savage
June 5, 2020
Updated 5:31 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court on Friday blocked the Trump administration from imposing a 30-day suspension on the White House press pass of a reporter for trading caustic and blustering comments with Sebastian Gorka, a right-wing commentator who worked briefly in the White House, after an event in the Rose Garden last year.
In a 19-page ruling, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the suspension of the credential for Brian Karem, a reporter for Playboy Magazine, violated his constitutional rights because the White House had no written rules or advance notice about what would constitute unprofessional behavior that could temporarily cost him his press pass. (1)
{snip}
The ruling was unanimous. Judges Sri Srinivasan and Cornelia Pillard, both Obama appointees, joined in the opinion by Judge Tatel, a Clinton appointee.
A spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment. Mr. Karem celebrated the ruling by pointing toward broader press freedom issues in an era when the president has frequently deemed journalists "the enemy of the people" and reporters have been injured while covering the nationwide demonstrations against police brutality after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
"You cannot beat us down on police lines. You can't intimidate us by pulling our press passes. You cannot deny us due process. We were here before you. We will be here after you," Mr. Karem wrote on Twitter, tagging the account of President Trump along with that of his own lawyer, Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., and the press freedoms group Reporters Without Borders. (2)
{snip}
(1) https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/BC95D2B55151A3A18525857E00506384/$file/19-5255-1845846.pdf
(2)
Link to tweet
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/05/us/politics/brian-karem-press-pass-white-house.html
GreatDayForEverybodyHat Retweeted
https://twitter.com/Popehat
NOW: The D.C. Circuit finds for the Free Press! the DC Circuit has unanimously affirmed the preliminary injunction restoring my press pass on due process grounds.
@BoutrousTed
@realDonaldTrump
Link to tweet
https://www.gibsondunn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Karem-Opinion-06-05-20.pdf
Brian J. Karem Retweeted
https://twitter.com/BrianKarem
So district courts & now appellate courts are saying the
@WhiteHouse
cannot revoke journalists' press passes when
@realDonaldTrump
dislikes their coverage. Kudos to
@BoutrousTed
@BrianKarem
for this powerful win for press freedom & the First Amendment.
Link to tweet
= new reply since forum marked as read
Do you think the court is subtly suggesting that the WH press corps should moon Trump?
