Hecker Fink Files Brief in Support of Public Radio Executive Diane Kaplan's Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in United States v. Diane Kaplan

On Monday, September 29, Hecker Fink filed a brief on behalf of Diane Kaplan, a longtime public radio executive. Ms. Kaplan was appointed by President Biden and confirmed by the Senate in December 2022 to the Board Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In April 2025, President Trump purported to terminate her service without cause even though the Public Broadcasting Act establishes the Corporation as a private nonprofit corporation and expressly insulates it from any “direction, supervision, or control” by the government. The Corporation and Ms. Kaplan sued, and that lawsuit remains pending. Before the court could rule on the merits of that suit, the government sued Ms. Kaplan, seeking to oust her from the Board.

The brief, which can be found here, explains why Ms. Kaplan is properly performing her important duties for the Corporation in support of public broadcasting. Among other reasons, President Trump’s purported firing of Ms. Kaplan without cause violated the Public Broadcasting Act’s prohibition on the government exercising “direction, supervision, or control.” She also has an alternative basis to perform her duties as a member of a “designated body” appointed pursuant to the Corporation’s By-laws. The government also lacks standing to pursue its claim against Ms. Kaplan, and she is not holding a “public office,” a required element of the quo warranto statute under which the government sued Ms. Kaplan.

The Hecker Fink team includes Trisha Anderson, Kaitlin Konkel, Helia Bidad, Jared Hirschfield, Jessy Jimenez, and Sophie Adams-Smith.