• In 1925, legislators from Duluth, Minnesota
managed to get a bill through the legislature
called the Public Nuisance Law of 1925; it
was referred to as the "gag law.“
• What was it? It gave the right to states
to stifle libelous and scandalous and
newspapers.
•Guilford and The Reporter: Jay M. Near is
hired
•The state legislature passed a law allowing
the shutdown of a “defamatory” newspaper
called the Saturday Press
• The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this law to be
unconstitutional and stated that even when
the right was exploited, the press had
“immunity from any prior restraint”

An ad appeared in the New York Times
alleging that the arrest of Martin Luther King
Jr. for perjury was part of campaign that was
trying to destroy King’s efforts to integrate
society

L.B. Sullivan, from Montgomery, filed
accused the New York Times and four African
American clergymen (who supposedly
approved the ad) for libel

Some of the statements in the ad were false,
and state officials were sued and accused
with libel

Court Ruling: in order for a statement to be
libelous, a false statement regarding a public
official “must reflect actual malice”
 Meaning: For a statement to be
considered libelous, someone MUST
prove that the statement was made “with
knowledge that is was false or with
reckless disregard of whether it was false
or not
•Paul Branzburg: reporter of the Louisville
Courier-Journal
•He included a story in which he had
interviewed people that were involved in
manufacturing hashish and consequently,
marijuana
•He was later subpoenaed to appear before a
grand jury and was ordered to testify (give
evidence) of his knowledge regarding the
manufacture hashish
•Though he appeared in court, he REFUSED to
give the identities of those he interviewed
•He even refused to obey the order issued by
Kentucky Court Judge – respondent was John J.
Hayes
•Does it violate the first amendment for
reporters to be forced to disclose their
information to a grand jury?
•Court Ruling: No; it is legal to force an “average
citizen” to disclose the information gathered
when summoned to appear in court