WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- There is no constitutional right allowing journalists to cover troops in a war zone, a U.S. appeals court in Washington ruled Tuesday.
Publisher Larry Flynt and Hustler magazine contended restricting access to the troops in Afghanistan was a violation of the First Amendment.
Flynt asked the Pentagon in an October 2001 letter that Hustler correspondents "be permitted to accompany ground troops on combat missions and that said correspondents be allowed free access" to the theater of operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Eventually, a Pentagon official sent Flynt to the Fifth Fleet Public Affairs Office, and after more exchange of letters, a Hustler correspondent was allowed into Afghanistan.
Flynt sued the Pentagon for its restrictive access, but a federal judge dismissed the suit. The appeals court also ruled against Flynt.
"We find that no such constitutional right exists," the appeals court said in part.
