Authored by Stacy Robinson via The Epoch Times,
A federal judge has blocked Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s censure of Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), halting a process that could lower the senator’s military rank and benefits.
“This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees,” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled on Feb. 12.
“To say the least, our retired veterans deserve more respect from their Government, and our Constitution demands they receive it!”
Kelly, a retired Navy Captain, came under fire when he and four other lawmakers recorded a video last November telling members of the military that they should disobey any “unlawful” orders they received.
On Jan. 5, Hegseth issued alettercensuring Kelly, sayinghis actions “undermined the chain of command,” “counseled disobedience,” and constituted “conduct unbecoming an officer.”He also posted on X that he initiated proceedings to reduce Kelly’s military rank and retirement pay because of “seditious” conduct.
That letter said Kelly—as a retired officer still receiving pay—was in violation of Articles 133 and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which deal with punishing an officer for unbecoming conduct.
Kelly sued Hegseth and the Department of War, alleging that the censure sought to “chill” his free speech rights by threatening punishment.He also alleged that Hegseth was violating the separation of powers by interfering with the speech of a sitting Congressman.
Justice Department attorney John Bailey argued that the case was not ready for the district court yet because Kelly had not exhausted all the administrative appeals available to him.
Before issuing his ruling, Leon had pointed out that while the Uniform Code of Military Justice does impose certain limits on the free speech of active military, it has never been applied to retired service members.
Source: ZeroHedge News
