Freedom as story's accepted by judge (6)
I believe the answer is:
relief
'freedom' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'story's accepted by judge' is the wordplay.
'story' becomes 'lie' (I've seen this before).
'accepted by' indicates putting letters inside.
'judge' becomes 'ref'.
'lie' going within 'ref' is 'RELIEF'.
'as' is the link.
(Other definitions for relief that I've seen before include "Removal of stress" , "Rest - cure" , "Alleviation of anxiety" , "Help or easement" , "Easement from pain or distress" .)