By: Lea Arapovic and
Taylor England
Defining-“Freedom of Press”:
I. Dictionary Definition: the right to publish
newspapers, magazines, and other printed matter
without governmental restriction and subject only to
the laws of libel, obscenity, sedition, etc.
II. Cultural Definition (How it is used in American life):
The right to circulate opinions in print without
censorship by the government. Americans enjoy
freedom of the press under the First
Amendment to the Constitution.
Bill of Rights – Amendment I:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
 During the 18th Century, when certain members of the
press, such as pamphleteer Thomas Paine, experienced
a great deal of persecution, the First Amendment
made certain to protect those who wrote and shared
their somewhat unpopular political views.
 As long as those reporting this information do not
share falsities that are harmful (libel) to any person’s
reputation or well-being, then they are protected by
the First Amendment.
Background:
 The New York Times and Washington Post wanted to
publish parts of a Department of Defense study on
U.S. involvement and wartime tactics in Vietnam.
 Nixon’s Administration placed an injunction that
prevented the publication of the Pentagon Papers.
 The Administration argued that this was a matter of
national security, and therefore found prior
restraint of the materials necessary.
 Injunction: Law - a judicial process or order requiring
the person or persons to whom it is directed to do a
particular act or to refrain from doing a particular act.
 National Security: a collective term for the defense
and foreign relations of a country, protection of the
interests of a country
 Prior restraint: a court order banning publication of
unpublished material.
 Chief Justice Warren E. Burger
 6-3 for New York Times
 The Court’s per curiam opinion ruled in favor of the New
York Times, as supported by the First Amendment.
 The Court ruled that the unclear definition of ‘security’
should not infringe upon the rights provided by the First
Amendment.
 The verdict, therefore, reasoned that the efforts to prevent
the publication by the Nixon Administration deterred from
the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment, and that
since the American people and forces were not being
endangered, the prior restraint was found indefensible.
 This case served as precedence for later cases that were
concerned with freedoms given by the Constitution.
Background:
 Hazelwood East High School’s newspaper, The
Spectrum, was an entirely student-run publication.
 In May 1983, Principal Robert E. Reynolds received a
copy of the May 13 issue for approval prior to
publication. Reynolds withheld two articles (one
concerned with abortion; the other with divorce)
from publication, and former students Cathy
Kuhlmeier and two others later took the case to court.
 Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist
 5-3 for Hazelwood School District
 The Court decided that not all types of student speech
were protected by the First Amendment in schools
that are funded for by the public. Further, the Court
maintained that schools may withhold publications in
an effort to not advocate speech that goes against “’the
shared values of a civilized social order.’” So long as the
withholding is justifiable (“reasonably related to
legitimate pedagogical concerns”) it is constitutional.
The Court therefore ruled in favor of Reynolds and
Hazelwood School District.
 The First Amendment became suppressed in publicly-
funded institutions, such as schools.
 The following statutory regulation was put into effect
following the trial: “The 1st Amendment of the
Constitution of the United States ensures that every
American citizen be granted the freedom to express
themselves in accordance with applicable legislature
enacted in order to preserve the safety and wellbeing
of the general public; however, the right to free speech
prohibits ideas, ideology, or creeds to be imposed on
any individual without their respective and expressed
consent.”
Background:
 Jay Near published a scandal sheet in The Saturday Press
Newspaper, along with claims that local officials were
involved with gangsters.
 Officials placed an injunction to establish a prior
restraint of the scandal sheet.
 Minnesota had a law at the time that supported this action,
stating that any individual “engaged in the business” of
publishing an “obscene, lewd, and lascivious” or
“malicious, scandalous and defamatory” publication was
qualified as committing a “nuisance,” and could therefore
be restrained from further continuing it.
 Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes
 5-4 for Near
 The Supreme Court decided that the law that
sanctioned the passage of the injunction was
unconstitutional. The Court looked to the First
Amendment, and ultimately decided that the gag
order was an infringement upon the First
Amendment. The prior restraint of the publication was
declared unconstitutional, and a doctrine was
established that stated that government could not
exercise prior restraint over a publication.
 The injunction was determined to be a direct
violation of freedom of expression.
 This was the first time the Supreme Court
effectively described the doctrine of prior restraint
and its limitations, giving meaning to the now
clearly defined prior restraint.
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