Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Plaintiff alleges that defendants U.S. Department of Defense and State Department's negligence, harassment, discrimination, bias, favoritism and malicious prosecution of herself are in violation of the First Amendment with regards to the embed process as currently exercised by defendants Department of Defense and the State Department with regards to Stillwater in comparison to defendants' treatment of other journalists. In addition, defendants' selective treatment of Stillwater is allegedly in violation of U.S. civil law on the grounds that First Amendment protection of freedom of the press needs be applied to journalists reporting from a war zone (as long as military personnel are not endangered by said journalists' actions) as well as being applied to journalists within United States civil jurisdiction.
In the words of Department of Defense spokesman Lt. Col. Larry Cox, the embed program itself is designed to allow journalists to "make judgments for themselves":
The whole concept was not to put limits on the embed experiences, but simply to provide the opportunity, and let the embedded press experience whatever there is to experience. Torie Clarke, the Pentagon spokesperson, used the words: "Embedding the press would provide journalists the opportunity to see the good the bad and the ugly." That was the assumption from the very beginning, from the conceptual stages to the detailed planning. It became a principle value in Department of Defense's program. That could be considered either good or bad. Part of the journalistic endeavor is for the journalists to make that judgment themselves, and we expected they would, one way or another.
By obstructing Stillwater, an accredited journalist, access to the embedding process and thus denying her to be in a position to make her own judgments and come to her own conclusions, defendant Department of Defense, with the aid of defendant State Department, is thus violating their own stated goals as well as those of the First Amendment.
In the matter of JB Pictures, Inc. v. Department of Defense and Donald B. Rice, Secretary of the Air Force, it was ruled that JB Pictures' rights to freedom of the press were not being denied when they were not allowed to view soldiers' remains – thus indicating by default that First Amendment rights were applicable to the Department of Defense except under extreme circumstances.
In the matter of Associated Press v. Department of Defense, the Associated Press sued the Department of Defense under the federal Freedom of Information Act to compel disclosure of George W. Bush's full record of service in the Texas National Guard. The court ordered the Department of Defense to provide the documents. This case is a clear example of the Department of Defense acting in the best interests of George W. Bush rather than the best interests of America's citizens. This ruling should be applied to Stillwater's case as well because since 2000, Stillwater's journalistic endeavors have centered upon her efforts to uncover evidence that corruption and gross self-interest govern the formation of the majority of Bush's foreign and domestic policies. By denying Stillwater access to report on one of Bush's greatest policy failures, the Department of Defense is allegedly again supporting Bush's interests over the best interests of American citizens.
V. Pain and Suffering
As a result of not being allowed to embed and re-embed in Iraq, Stillwater was forced to spend almost a year trying to rectify this situation, devoting many hours of her time in pursuit of an embed. "I e-mailed people, made phone calls, wrote letters," stated Stillwater, "dealt with congressional representatives, read information published on the subject, talked with fellow reporters, read up on case law, scheduled, un-scheduled and re-scheduled flights to Kuwait and tried to rally support for my embed with groups and organizations across the entire United States. I went on radio and television, corresponded with officers in the field in Iraq, corresponded with CPIC, corresponded with...you name it, I tried it. And all in vain. It was – and is – very frustrating. And it was especially frustrating because there was nothing exactly I could put my finger on that was causing this rejection. Most of my refusals were of the iron-fist-in-the-velvet-glove variety, especially when I was in the Green Zone. Nobody ever said, 'Jane, go home, you are wasting your time, you are never going to get embedded in the Red Zone.' They couldn't have said that because it would have been clearly discriminatory so instead they just kept stonewalling me and giving me the run-around."
Stillwater's frustration and mental anguish as a result of being stonewalled and allegedly covertly blackballed from embedding in Iraq and returning to Iraq have caused her great pain and suffering. The actions of the State Department and the Department of Defense have also cast a shadow on her reputation as a journalist. "Being told that I was not fact-based really hurt," stated Stillwater. "It was as if they had accused me of lying – as if I had done something really detrimental to my country such as lying about weapons of mass destruction or lying about Iraq being involved with Al Qaeda before 2003."
Stillwater was also upset that her credence as a patriotic American was being denigrated. "My journalism is greatly influenced by my love for America," stated Stillwater. "And to see that patriotism being repeatedly challenged by the State Department as they apparently try to protect George W. Bush at the cost of the American military and American troops has really been hard for me, a lone female journalist up against the entire Bush war machine. Sometimes I even fear for my safety."
WHEREFORE, due to negligence, harassment, discrimination, bias, favoritism and malicious prosecution suffered by Stillwater as a result of the defendants State Department and Department of Defense's actions, Stillwater is seeking the following relief:
1. That arrangements be made immediately by defendants to transport Stillwater via the fastest means available – either by commercial air or by military air to an embed in Anbar province, commencing no later than June 22, 2007 and at defendents' expense;
2. An immediate embed in Anbar province;
3. Immediate access to all Department of Defense media embed facilities;
4. $17,280 in payment to Stillwater for damages due to pain and suffering, damages to her professional reputation and for punitive damages.
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