WAR IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : ACLU Sues Over Edict on War Dead

The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Defense Department for barring the press and public from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where coffins of U.S. military casualties from the Gulf War are being taken. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of media, veterans and family-support groups; it charged that the restrictions violate the Constitution’s free-speech guarantees. The ACLU charged that the government is concerned that news coverage from the base, site of the Defense Department’s largest mortuary, would erode public support for the war. The Pentagon said it adopted the restrictions to protect the privacy of soldiers’ families.