Update 4/17/13: Court rejects lawsuit for better media access, rules it does not have jurisdiction
The lawsuit by the Center for Constitutional Rights and a number of journalists, to obtain access to court records in the Bradley Manning trial, was rejected with the justification that the court did not have jurisdiction to make a ruling. Josh Gerstein at Politico.com reports:
In a sharply divided ruling, the appeals court ruled, 3-2, that it had no jurisdiction to consider such a complaint from parties other than the government or the defendant in a particular case.
It took the court 5 months to make this ruling. Kevin Gosztola at FireDogLake, one of the journalists behind the lawsuit, comments:
For over a year now, a group, including this journalist, has been pushing for access to court records in the case. The decision is disappointing because it means the United States military will be able to, at their discretion, continue to effectively court-martial not just Manning but all soldiers behind a veil of secrecy.
Gosztola argues that this ruling sets a dangerous precedent that allows the military to deny media access to future court martials.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is calling for congressional action:
Because the court was created by Congress, its jurisdiction is limited by the legislation that created it. The court today held that that limited jurisdiction does not allow it to hear questions of public access to the records or proceedings of the case. Therefore, it is up to Congress to step in and ensure that the public can know how its military courts operate.
The court ruling can be read here.
