Judge blocks Pete Hegseth's censure of Sen. Mark Kelly over troops video, for now
#Pete Hegseth #Mark Kelly #First Amendment #Military censure #Sedition charges #Federal injunction #Pentagon punishment #Retired military rights
📌 Key Takeaways
- Judge blocks Pentagon from censuring Kelly over troops rights video
- Judge rules Kelly's First Amendment rights were violated
- Prosecutors failed to indict Kelly and Slotkin on sedition charges
- Injunction could become permanent if Kelly wins lawsuit
📖 Full Retelling
Federal Judge Rich Leon on Thursday issued an injunction in Washington, D.C., blocking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from censuring Sen. Mark Kelly over the Arizona Democrat's participation in a video reminding American military service members of their right to refuse illegal orders, with the judge determining the action violated Kelly's First Amendment rights. The order also prevents Hegseth from reducing Kelly's U.S. Navy rank and retirement pay as punishment for his role in the controversial video, which Kelly created after retiring from the Navy as a captain. Leon's ruling came just two days after federal prosecutors in Washington failed to convince a grand jury to indict Kelly and Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., on criminal charges of seditious conspiracy related to their participation in the video released with four other members of Congress in November. The judge expressed strong confidence that Kelly would ultimately succeed in his lawsuit challenging the Pentagon's effort to punish him, noting that Hegseth had 'trampled' on Kelly's constitutional protections and that no court has ever extended military discipline principles to retired service members serving in Congress. Leon dismissed Hegseth's argument that military personnel decisions are exempt from judicial review, stating the court has all it needs to conclude that defendants have threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees.
🏷️ Themes
First Amendment, Military Discipline, Separation of Powers
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Original Source
A federal judge on Thursday enjoined Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from censuring Sen. Mark Kelly over the Arizona Democrat's participation in a video reminding American military service members of their right to refuse illegal orders. Judge Rich Leon's order in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. , also blocks Hegseth, for now, from reducing Kelly's U.S. Navy rank and retirement pay, as punishment for his role in the video. Kelly retired from the Navy as a captain. Leon said that Hegseth had "trampled" on Kelly's First Amendment free speech protections, and that the senator is likely to succeed in his lawsuit challenging the Pentagon's effort to punish him. The preliminary injunction that the judge issued preventing that punishment could become permanent if Hegseth loses that case, as Leon strongly suggested will happen. The order came two days after the U.S. Attorney's Office for DC tried, and failed, to get a federal grand jury to indict Kelly and Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who is a former CIA analyst, on criminal charges of seditious conspiracy related to their participation in the video released with four other members of Congress in November. President Donald Trump had condemned the Democrats who appeared on the video, accusing them of "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!" "Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL," Trump wrote on Truth Social then. Leon, in a scathing opinion explaining his order Thursday, noted that Hegseth, in seeking to punish Kelly for his public statements as a member of Congress, relied "on the well-established doctrine that military service members enjoy less vigorous First Amendment protections given the fundamental obligation for obedience and discipline in the armed forces." "Unfortunately for Secretary Hegseth, no court has ever extended those principles to retired servicemembers, much less a retired servicemember serving in Congress and exercising oversight responsibility over the ...
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