Judge Paul Friedman's April 9 ruling that the Department of War is violating his March 20 injunction on press access entered its eleventh day Monday with no movement toward compliance. [1] The New York Times plaintiffs have not regained unescorted building access. The Correspondents' Corridor remains closed. The Pentagon's appeal, filed within hours of the April 9 ruling, has produced no expedited hearing on the D.C. Circuit docket. [2] The paper's April 17 accounting treated the fourth ignored ruling as a pattern that required a different word. Two weekends later, the word still has no enforcement mechanism attached.

Friedman's April 9 language was uncharacteristically sharp for a civil matter. The Pentagon, he wrote, "cannot simply reinstate an unlawful policy under the guise of taking 'new' action and expect the Court to look the other way." [3] The court's remedial options — civil contempt, a mandamus-style directive, appointment of a special master — have not been invoked from the bench. The plaintiffs have not, as of Monday morning, filed a contempt motion tied to the April 9 order. The Pentagon has not, as of Monday morning, taken any compliance step beyond the appeal posture Sean Parnell declared on X the night of the ruling. [2]

What this edition called the pattern on April 17 — four rulings, zero compliance — now has an operational pause. For a federal injunction protecting a First Amendment right, that is the story. Friedman's injunction exists. The executive branch has chosen not to comply. The plaintiffs' counsel has chosen, so far, not to force the question.

-- SAMUEL CRANE, Washington