Marine Sues to Stay In After Being Booted for Obama Facebook Posts

Sgt. Gary Stein, who is being booted from the Marine Corps for Facebook posts criticizing President Barack Obama and saying he wouldn’t follow orders, has sued to stay in the Marines. Stein bases his lawsuit on the First Amendment, The Hill reports.

He filed the suit in U.S. District Court of Southern California on Tuesday, aided by the American Civil Liberties Union and U.S. Justice Foundation. The suit aims to put off his administrative hearing, scheduled for Thursday, and prevent the Marines from dumping him, according to The Hill.

Stein, who is stationed at Camp Pendleton in California, says the entries he filed on his “Armed Forces Tea Party” Facebook page weren’t posted as a uniformed Marine. In the entries, he called Obama a “domestic enemy” and said he wouldn’t follow some orders, The Hill reports. Stein also claims a Defense Department rule that restricts political activity for service members violates his First Amendment rights because it is vague and overreaches.

“Though some of the language he used in discussing certain hypothetical unlawful orders might have been viewed as intemperate, he subsequently clarified ... that he was only discussing the settled principle of military law that service members should not follow unlawful orders,” the lawsuit states.