New York Times V United States 1971

Title and Year New York Times V United States

1971

Court

Burger

Majority Opinion

Per Curiam

Facts/Brief Background

New York Times and The Washington Post obtained the copies of the Pentagon Papers and they intended to publish those documents in their newspaper. Nixon administration sought an injunction in the New York district court claiming that the publishing of the documents would violate provision 793 of the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Executive Privilege of the President. The court granted an injunction to temporarily ban the release of the documents in the public. Times published the injunction order in their newspaper and then agreed to abide by the ruling. But as more and more public support piled up for the release of those documents, Times appealed in the circuit court and then appealed once more in the Supreme Court.

Issue

Did the Nixon administration's efforts to prevent the publication of what it termed "classified information" violate the First Amendment? Ruling & Legal Doctrine

The court ruled in favor of New York Times. There was no majority opinion. Court used its prevailing precedent of Prior restraints to reason out the ruling. The injunction secured by the government doesn’t over possess heavy threat to the rights of free speech and expression. The court also held that the right to freedom of press is an absolute right and cannot be waived at any time. Justice Black in his caustic words criticized the judges of the New York district court for providing such an injunction. He declared that such a decision would devastate the freedom of press privilege. Justice Douglas in his concurrence pointed out that giving absolute freedom to the press would serve as an additional check to the government. Justice Brenan noted that the publishing of the documents by New York Times will be constitutional because it doesn’t violate the requirements proposed by the decision in the case Near V Minnesota. The New York Times and Washington Post were given full freedom to publish those documents.

Significance

The court was divided based on ideological and partisan views. Democratic Justices were ardent supporters of freedom of press and conservative justices supported the preservation of national security. The conservative justices in their dissenting opinions noted that it is essential to preserve national security and executive privilege. This decision was one of the most important achievements in the Supreme Court rulings for freedom of press.