In numerous cases, the Supreme Court has indicated that the Constitution establishes a strong presumption against such prior restraints. In this June 30, photo, workers in the New York Times composing room in New York look at a proof sheet of a page containing the secret Pentagon report on Vietnam.
United States that despite the sensitive nature of the information, the newspapers could still publish it under the no prior restraint doctrine. The founding fathers viewed the practice of prior restraint as detrimental to democracy. British common law had been interpreted to oppose licensing and other forms of prior restraint of speech and press, which served as an example during the U.
Constitutional Convention. As literacy rates increased and the number of newspaper publications expanded, several court cases challenged government officials who were accused of abridging the free press rights of newspaper publishers. In Near v. Minnesota , the U. Supreme Court struck down the Minnesota Public Nuisance Abatement Law that barred the publication of malicious or defamatory materials. County prosecutor Floyd Olson, who later became governor of Minnesota, had convinced a county judge in to issue a gag order against journalists Jay Near and Howard Guilford under the Minnesota law.
The two journalists had written several contentious articles in the publication Saturday Press accusing Olson and other local politicians of colluding with gangsters. Near appealed the case and ultimately won in a decision in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Minnesota law violated the First Amendment.
The case is significant for two reasons. Although Near v. Minnesota reaffirmed that governmental censorship of media publications is unconstitutional, the ruling still left questions. For instance, did the First Amendment apply to situations in which a newspaper or magazine publication could potentially threaten national security by divulging sensitive military information?
This became an issue of concern after secret government documents began appearing in the New York Times in June of , and later in the Washington Post. Known as the Pentagon Papers , these documents, which contained classified and top secret information related to American policies and activities in the ongoing Vietnam War , were copied from the State Department and Department of Defense by Daniel Ellsberg.
The federal government responded immediately by filing a legal suit against the two newspapers, citing national security as the primary reason for preventing publication of the material. Liberal Politics U. Elianna Spitzer. Law Expert. Elianna Spitzer is a legal studies writer and a former Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism research assistant.
Key Takeaways: Prior Restraint Prior restraint is the review and restriction of speech prior to its release. Under the First Amendment of the U. Constitution, which protects speech and freedom of the press, prior restraint is deemed unconstitutional. There are some exceptions to prohibitions against prior restraint, including obscenity and national security. Famous cases dealing with prior restraint include Near v.
Minnesota, New York Times Co. Stuart, and Brandenberg v. Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Spitzer, Elianna. Definition and Examples. What Is Prior Restraint?
What Is Originalism? New York Times Co. Timeline of the Freedom of the Press in the United States. Hatch Act: Definition and Examples of Violations. What Are Inherent Powers? What Are Individual Rights? Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart, Supreme Court Case. What Is Sedition? School Prayer: Separation of Church and State. Definitions of Defamation of Character, Libel, and Slander. How to Petition the Government in Under 5 Minutes.
Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for ThoughtCo. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. Prior restraint typically happens in a few ways. It may be a statute or regulation that requires a speaker to acquire a permit or license before speaking. Prior restraint can also be a judicial injunction that prohibits certain speech.
There is a third way--discussed below--in which the government outright prohibits a certain type of speech. Courts typically disfavor prior restraint and often find it to be unconstitutional. The issue of prior restraint often occurred when the state sought to prevent a news publication from publishing something.
In Near v. Minnesota , U.
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