Gary Stein Case: Judge Won't Block Discharge Effort Against Marine Who Called Obama 'Enemy'

SAN DIEGO -- A federal judge denied a request Friday to block military discharge proceedings against a Camp Pendleton Marine who called President Barack Obama an enemy on Facebook.

U.S. District Judge Marilyn Huff ruled the military has the right to respond to Sgt. Gary Stein's online comments in a case that has called into question the Pentagon's policies regarding social media and the limits regarding the speech of active duty military personnel.

A military panel has recommended to a general that Stein be given an other-than-honorable discharge that also would strip him of all benefits.

A general must still decide the outcome, but Stein's lawyers argued Friday in federal court in San Diego that Huff had the right to intervene because the ongoing proceedings go too far and are chilling the speech of Stein and other service members.

Attorney J. Mark Brewer told Huff the entire process violates the First Amendment, which federal courts have the right to uphold.

Huff disagreed, calling Stein's postings "truly troubling." Service members have had their speech limited since the Civil War, especially if their comments are believed to disrupt good order and discipline.

The judge pointed out Stein's March 1 comments on a Facebook page used by Marine Corps meteorologists in which the sergeant stated, "Screw Obama and I will not follow all orders from him."

Stein went on to state that he supports and defends the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

"Obama is the economic enemy ... He is the religious enemy ... he is the `Fundamentally change' America enemy ... he IS the Domestic Enemy," Stein wrote, according to court documents filed by prosecutors based on a screen grab of the page.

Stein later clarified in a posting that he would not follow any unlawful orders from the president. Huff commended Stein for doing that, but she said "nevertheless, he made a very strong statement."

In making her ruling, Huff told Stein that service members have several options to appeal any ruling within the military, including asking for a review by a board of civilians.

Stein acknowledged after the hearing that the options are available only after he has been discharged – which he wants to stop from happening.

The nine-year veteran who served in Iraq said he should not have his career wiped out for "15 words on Facebook."

"I've never disobeyed any order," said Stein, whose service ends July 28. He has said he wants to re-enlist.

"It's like a boxing match," he said of Friday's ruling. "I'm down two rounds now."

Stein plans to continue to fight outside the military and go to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[Arthur181]

08:48 PM on 04/25/2012

Sgt. Stein just this Monday has been diagnosed with throat cancer and his wife's Grandmother just died. The Marine Command as quoted is holding off the discharge for treatment.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/25/11396769-marine-who-criticized-obama-on-facebook-i-wish-i-could-take-it-back?lite

[luckyfreeman69]

05:31 PM on 04/25/2012

I agree 1st offense. first time ever been done to anybody...I have heard about sensoring mail home from a war zone in war time but wow this is a little overboard..I think the punnishment is rather severe...Its not like anybody was preforming a sexual act with a donkey or anything like that..Its to bad they made such an example of the sargent...Those types usually are the ones that get a promotion ...Just watch and see the favoritism commence...

[IloveNewYorkCity]

07:19 PM on 04/25/2012

You have 99 fans and you are a super user but I am sorry to say that you totally missed it. It only shows how little you know and worse than that how little you understand. This is against Obama..this is against The Commander-in-Chief and the integrity of this post has to be maintain at any cost and all the time..every time. Period.

[owswtf]

12:31 AM on 04/17/2012

Substitute "George W. Bush" for "Obama" & Huffington Post bloggers would be donating millions & pinning medals on him!

[LeftRight]

07:11 AM on 04/17/2012

Not a chance, but then again you think that Faux News is a valid source....

[owswtf]

06:52 PM on 04/17/2012

So are stalking me?

[turtom]

02:44 AM on 04/18/2012

I do not think that is true, ows. But it is easy to claim.

[revr]

01:45 PM on 04/16/2012

Gary Stein earned himself a dishonorable discharge with his comments. Words like treason, subversive, and insubordinate, come to mind.

[LeftRight]

07:11 AM on 04/17/2012

I disagree about a Dishonorable. As for treason, I can see why you would choose that word, but the proper one would be sedition...

[atlblackops]

12:21 PM on 04/16/2012

He's a disgrace to the Marine Corp, but a gem to Fox News. Just another hypocritically-patriotic Tebagger.

[owswtf]

12:32 AM on 04/17/2012

So how many years have you served?

[LeftRight]

07:12 AM on 04/17/2012

I served 6, and I and most other veterans and active duty personnel agree with atlblackops. How many did YOU serve?

[chefacree]

09:20 AM on 04/16/2012

No sympathy here. When you take that oath you give up certain rights. Talking smack about the Commander in chief is one of them. Could he have said the same thing about his Platoon Leader or Company Commander? The answer is no, and the results would have been the same. It happens all the time and they go quietly into disgrace just like he needs to.

[ShroudedSciuridae]

08:45 AM on 04/16/2012

Let me tell you about Mr. Stein, and you can verify all of this from the court documents resulting from when he sued his commanders. While in Iraq he got a Page 11 for leaving his guard post and his weapon to go play with rocks ~200ft away. In 2009 he lost his clearance and his car for consistently being 20K+ in debt he wasn't paying. He was ranked 35 out of 37 for promotion, before this whole thing came to light; every category was below average. He has been riding a profile for years, and according to his first line has made no effort to change that. Does this sound like a Marine you want next to you? Because I wouldn't.

[callinguonit]

09:23 PM on 04/17/2012

Thanks for the information....They just kept posting...He hasn't disobeyed an order in 9 years.

[ShroudedSciuridae]

09:37 PM on 04/17/2012

He's not being discharged for disobeying an order. He's being discharged for conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline. And, for the record he has disobeyed orders, several of them. In 2010 his commander told him to take the page down, which he did for about a week. Later his CWO told him to stop posting comments derogatory of his CINC, he did not. Countless other Officers and NCOs have told him to adhere to DODD 1344.10, he has not.

[turtom]

02:22 AM on 04/16/2012

And can you imagine if this soldier were to get off with a wrist slap, a severe reprimand or some other punishment that did not sent the absolute strongest message possible.

We would open the military to allow any soldier of any political persuasion to openly mock, disrespect and threaten to disobey the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

Very soon after that, you would have a breakdown in morale, discipline and the effectiveness of the entire United States military.

What a nightmare.

[owswtf]

12:34 AM on 04/17/2012

These type of issues do not need to be paraded around for political propaganda. It is an internal military affair to be handed as such.

[turtom]

12:55 AM on 04/17/2012

Greetings, ows,

I think the soldier who expressed his feelings online in a public forum took it out of the internal military forum. The military will (has already) decided his fate but, for better or worse, when you go as public as Facebook (almost a billion users worldwide) it is a genie you can't get back in the bottle.

I am not sure I agree that this is not a good thing for the public to understand.

[LeftRight]

07:13 AM on 04/17/2012

And perhaps you have failed to notice that this issue IS being dealt with internally by the United States Marine Corps..... In fact, the only reason that it LEFT the Corps is that Sgt Stein brought it into the courts!

[IloveNewYorkCity]

07:24 PM on 04/25/2012

Very Well Said Sir.

[turtom]

02:17 AM on 04/16/2012

Has it occurred to any of you guys who are justifying this Marine's trashing of his sacred oath that you would have been frothing at the mouth if Stein was a black soldier and had said these things about, let's say, President Bush.

I am guessing under those circumstances, you patriots would be calling for a firing squad to punish this treasonable behavior from a professional soldier.

If this were about military pride or steely-eyed resolve, I would think that the President who gave his team the mission of finding and killing Osama bin Laden, stayed focused on the task and when the crucial moment came, gave to word to proceed, would get high respect.

The previous Commander-in-Chief said he did not really think about the man who murdered nearly 3,000 Americans. That is why bin Laden went free for years. President Obama was clear. He said, "I want that man dead or alive."

Why doesn't that get the respect of Stein or others who have all kinds of excuses why they hate this President to the point where breaking an oath is acceptable.

Take a close look in the mirror; into your own hearts. This isn't about anything this President has done or not done. The answer’s at the core of much of the hate some Americans feel for President Obama.

THERE IS STILL A SIZABLE MINORITY OF AMERICANS WHO CAN NEVER, EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, RECONCILE THEMSELVES TO A BLACK MAN AS THEIR LEADER.

[callinguonit]

06:09 AM on 04/16/2012

Unfortunately you are 100% correct...Any one else who had attacked a sitting President during a time of war would have been cremated as the Poster below reminded us about an "average" citizen below HUFFPOST SUPER USER Becki Adams 15 hours ago ( 3:22 PM) Remember how The Dixie Chicks were practically stoned to death for Natalie's comment about Bush?? This is WAY BEYOND that!!!! Oh by the way, Natalie was RIGHT. Favorite (5)Flag as Abusive

[owswtf]

12:40 AM on 04/17/2012

Stoned to death? Wow.
Bite the hand that feeds you and they no longer buy your substandard record albums. BTW, when was the last time Natalie & the chicks had a hit?
Cindy Sheehan is possibly your hero?

[owswtf]

12:51 AM on 04/17/2012

The color of skin has nothing to do with it. Maybe it has to do with the toughness of the skin. Colin Powell would make a much better President. Being CIC is more then flying out a military base, catching the basketball tournament game, then claiming to support the troops after you cut off their funding.
How much do you know about the USMC? Have you ever served?
And YOU don't think Bush would have exterminated Bin Laden if he had the chance? GW Bush endured endless insults from the left & liberals.

[turtom]

01:57 AM on 04/17/2012

As to what goes into the job of Commander-in-Chief, I am pretty sure it has nothing to do with landing on a deck in full flight suit while declaring "Mission Accomplished. Ten years later the Mission is still not accomplished because it was a fool's errand to start with.

It does have to do with ordering your military team to get the man responsible for murdering 3000 Americans, staying focused on the task and when the moment arrives, having the brains to know that the time is NOW. The last President, the armchair cowboy, responded that he didn't think much about bin Laden. That explains why his team could not find and kill him. Same with the Somali pirates. Bullet in the brain. Innocent lives saved. I like that in my Commander-in-Chief as compared to the fecklessness shown by President Bush.

About half my extended family is serving or has served in one or another branches of the US military. They respect Obama because when he sends troops into danger it is for a good reason. That goes a long way towards gaining their trust. They also appreciate that he went after the terrorist who was the reason we went to war in the first place. According to them lots of enlisted men mistrusted Bush because they thought he was about politics and not about national security. (And none of them would have said that on Facebook as long as they had not yet mustered out).

[Birddog11]

08:41 PM on 04/15/2012

I do not like President Obama's policies. I certainly will not vote for him. When I hear him go on & on about paying your fair share, or actively besmirch the wealthy (which I am not) to such a degree that class warfare is destroying this country, there are many things I mutter about him that are not to nice. That said, I am a civilian now & I can partake in saying whatever I want. When I was in the Army it was a different story, speaking negatively about the President was a punishable offense. I feel badly for this marine because I feel for his situation. It was President Obama that escalated the war in Afganistan. It is fairly apparent that this surge has not had the success that President Bush's Surge in Iraq did. It is people like this young Marine that have to go to Hell Holes Like Afganistan. It is quite possible that he has lost friends in the insanity of Afganistan. All this said I cannot disagree with his discharge, as he clearly violated UCMJ tenants.

[Nirotix]

10:45 PM on 04/15/2012

There wouldn't have been a "surge" in Iraq if Bush's little boy wouldn't have been trying to "one up" his good ole father in saying "I got the job done dad" and get all their buddies (including Chenny who was CEO of Haliburton) rich in the process while killing 5000 American's for NO REASON!!!!

IRAQ DIDN'T ATTACK THE US ON 9/11... . AL QAEDA DID, TRAINED IN AFGHANISTAN.

[LeftRight]

06:32 AM on 04/16/2012

Those would all be somewhat valid points Birddog, had it not been for the fact that President Obama is drawing down in Afghanistan, and the only reason we're there in the FIRST place is because President Bush didn't understand that you don't fight crime with the Army.....

[noodles865]

07:38 PM on 04/15/2012

I have a huge problem with limiting speech even if I hate what you are saying.if this man had simply said don't like him don't agree with him,I would have no problem with that.My father was in the military for 26 years and he didn't always agree with the politics of the presidents he served under,served under!The President is commander in chief and it is his responsibility or burden,depending on how you look at it to follow and indeed carry out what is commander asks of him.nobody would think this is fine and falls under free speech if he were talking about is direct CO.this guy went too far and even suggested a mutiny situation.you can't have that in the military get out if you feel that strongly.the whole purpose of boot camp is to train you to do and let go of the why.this soldier was not disagreeing with his military policy alone,he was saying he had no right to ask anything of him in the first place,questioning his very validity as commander in chief.This is just another symptom of the rights utter disregard of respect for this President in particular,we have always openly disagreed with a President but the disrespect which has become common place is unbelievable.screaming liar at him,disrespect from judges,disrespect of the first lady and her body,never has that happened so outwardly with no shame I wonder why.what is so very different about this President?

[sedc72]

12:07 AM on 04/16/2012

Two words - HE'S BLACK.

[noodles865]

12:17 AM on 04/16/2012

Bingo

[owswtf]

01:01 AM on 04/17/2012

Answer to your question. He has no respect for the constitution & the American citizen.

[LeftRight]

07:14 AM on 04/17/2012

You're right, Sgt Stein has no respect for the Constitution or the American Citizens.

[noodles865]

05:51 PM on 04/17/2012

I don't believe that,the things he is saying and doing differ little to the policies of every Democrat before him.this new twist of calling him a terrible socialist is crazy.look back at the past of so many Presidents before him.many of those Presidents were Republican and they implemented many of the services we are able to have and get through our government.we have all been forced into these tiny boxes and if you don't check that hatred off you are not "real" American's.we gave a big portion of life to our military,yet those who don't know our past have said vile things.I am proud of my dads service,proud to have been a GI brat,proud he's a vet but when walking out and asked how we voted terrible things were said to us regarding the troops and how we must hate them.To tell you the truth I don't think there is a thing different about this President from past Democrats I think we are,we the people and it hurts to know that.I want to be able to debate without the hatred without discounting entire swaths of Americans just because of the way in which they vote.truth be told I think most of us fall in the middle,I am a Democrat not a liberal.I will get pissed,go off on an ass on these comments but most are just trying to get by.the President isn't different we are..You take care

[John Robert Allen]

06:28 PM on 04/15/2012

I am a retired master chief petty officer who did 30 years in the US navy. I have never seen such open disrespect for the commander in chief as I have during President Obama's term. One can't help but wonder if its because he is an african american. He is not the first president who's policies are not popular with the opposite party. So I ask the question why do service members feel they can openly disrespect the commander in chief and get away with it. Its a sad day when the military that I served in for 30 years resort to this type of thinking. Their were presidents whose policies I didn't like during my time in service but it didn't matter because my job was as the oath states to carry out the orders of the officers and men appointed over me. Whatever happen to leadership? Does it still exist in our armed forces? I don't question the fact that our military does a great job but I do question if it wouldn't be easier if old fasioned leadership was being used.

[traceymarie]

06:33 PM on 04/15/2012

that guy is a birther

[Junius Gallio]

08:59 PM on 04/15/2012

"why do service members feel they can openly disrespect the commander in chief and get away with it"

This is one man--the overwhelming majority of our armed forces know that such behavior is utterly against the oaths they swore, and against the UCMJ. There will be a few like Stein who just don't want to follow orders, but then again, I'm sure you saw a few like that in your day.

Be well, Master Chief--and from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your service.

[MUDPUPPY]

05:56 PM on 04/15/2012

If Obama had not ran for president, but had applied for a government job that required a security clearance, with his past history and associates, it is doubtful he could have even got a clearance for just confidential. From now on, to be a presidential candidate one should be vetted for a top secret clearance.

[nnealj1]

06:02 PM on 04/15/2012

Maybe, someone in the government will have you rewrite the Constitution to your liking....

[starchildjg24]

06:32 PM on 04/15/2012

I hate to break this to you, but they already are. As soon as they are their party's nominee. At that point, they are given access to highly classified military information. Sorry to burst your bubble......
If you read lies and believe lies and repeat lies, those around you will think you are delusional. Try doing your own research using reputable sources.

[MUDPUPPY]

05:48 PM on 04/15/2012

We all like Obama, but it is sad. Iran doesn't respect Obama. N. Korea doesn't respect Obama. China doesn't respect Obama. Russia doesn't respect Obama. Few Americans respect Obama.The U. N. doesn't respect Obama and, the military has little respect for Obama. Obama is likable, but Idle promises, flowery speeches and idle threats impresses no one.

[nnealj1]

06:04 PM on 04/15/2012

It's okay, you're voicing your own personal opinions, and no one respects you either....

Your opinons are just that, opinions, and not facts. If you wish to make these claims, substantiate them....

[mmsuki]

06:34 PM on 04/15/2012

You need some sources that specifically show how the President is not respected by these countries.

And "few Americans" respect the President?
Gee, how did he win the election in a near landslide?

[owswtf]

01:35 AM on 04/17/2012

Landslide? 22 Red states, 28 Blue states
1984 results 49 Red states, 1 Blue state. Reagan came within 1900 votes of winning all fifty states. Thats a landslide

[Linda Jernigan]

05:36 PM on 04/15/2012

He is a security threat and risk ---(remember "loose lips sinks ships"?), plain and simple. More people would be able to see that if the president in question was the esteemed President Ronald Reagan or the much-respected President Bill Clinton. I agree, he is "defying the commander in chief". Only racist views encourage people to agree with this man, otherwise he would be viewed as they used to view the long-haired, draft-dodging unpatriotic hippie. Am I right or wrong?!

[nnealj1]

06:05 PM on 04/15/2012

You're wrong, but you do have the right to voice your opinion...

It didn't make you sound smarter, but, at least, you got the chance to vent....

Feel better??

[traceymarie]

06:36 PM on 04/15/2012

the guy is a birther which is the new word for racist

[TwoCentsIn]

06:32 PM on 04/15/2012

You're right, but you said it wrong.