Sgt. Gary Stein, the Camp Pendleton Marine who made national headlines for writing anti-Obama Facebook posts, is still awaiting the final decision of Brig. Gen. Daniel Yoo. It's up to Yoo - as the commanding officer of MCRD San Diego - to decide whether to accept the recommendation of the Marine administrative board that voted unanimously last week to dismiss Stein from the Marines with an Other Than Honorable Discharge.
But Stein and his legal team are already taking steps to fight what looks to be his impending dismissal. The U-T San Diego reports Stein and his attorneys will seek a preliminary injunction to block his dismissal, and they're heading to federal court on Friday in the first step of what could be a long process.
According to the U-T:
If Stein’s bid for an injunction in U.S. District Court fails, he will immediately appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said Gary Kreep, executive director of the United States Justice Foundation, which is representing Stein along with the American Civil Liberties Union. Kreep said Tuesday that his organization is prepared to go the distance, if necessary.
And "the distance" means all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, as both Stein and his attorneys have made clear.
Sgt. Gary Stein appeared on CNN yesterday, where he admitted the words he used to describe the president were "tasteless." Still, Stein argued, he had a legal right under the constitution to write them:
