Court Action Asked on Access to War Dead Arrivals

A group of journalists and critics of the Gulf War asked the U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday to act quickly to set aside the Pentagon’s ban on public access to arrival of war dead in the United States.

The plaintiffs asked the tribunal to overturn a decision Monday by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth denying a temporary restraining order requiring the Pentagon to permit public and journalistic access to the arrival of the dead at Dover Air Force Base, Del.

“All opportunity to witness and report on the initial return of the bodies will be lost after those bodies have returned and the war is over. Both events are anticipated to occur in the next few days,” said Kate Martin, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ACLU is representing a group that includes JB Pictures Inc., a group of professional photographers; the Center for Investigative Reporting Inc., a news organization based in San Francisco; the Veterans for Peace, an anti-war group; and eight journalists and photographers including columnist Nat Hentoff.

Lamberth, in denying their request for a restraining order that would be in effect while the merits of the case were being considered, said that the government’s policy was “not improper or irrational.” He said he would hear arguments on the matter next week.

Martin said that would be too late.

“Given the present state of the war,” she said, “plaintiffs need a decision on this motion as soon as possible.”

Justice Department lawyer David Anderson told Lamberth on Monday that “the press has no constitutional right of access to information under government control” and “military commanders have absolute control over military bases.”

Dover is the site of the Defense Department’s largest port mortuary. Members of the armed services who are killed overseas are sent there before being shipped to the places selected by their families for their burial.

Although public arrival ceremonies have been held at the Delaware base in the past, the government issued an order at the outset of the Gulf War that they would be held at the service member’s duty station or at the burial site instead.

“Arrival ceremonies at the port of entry may create hardships for family members and friends who may feel obligated to travel great distances to attend them,” the order said.