New York Times Co. v. United States
| New York Times Co. v. United States | |
|---|---|
|
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| Argued June 26, 1971 Decided June 30, 1971 |
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| Full case name | New York Times Co. v. United States |
| Citations | 403 U.S. 713 (more) |
| Subsequent history | 444 F.2d 544, reversed and remanded. |
| Holding | |
| To exercise prior restraint, the Government must show sufficient evidence that the publication would cause a “grave and irreparable” danger. | |
| Court membership | |
| Case opinions | |
| Per curiam. | |
| Concurrence | Black, joined by Douglas |
| Concurrence | Douglas, joined by Black |
| Concurrence | Brennan |
| Concurrence | Stewart, joined by White |
| Concurrence | White, joined by Stewart |
| Concurrence | Marshall |
| Dissent | Burger |
| Dissent | Harlan, joined by Burger, Blackmun |
| Dissent | Blackmun |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. I | |
New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971), was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the First Amendment. The ruling made it possible for the New York Times and Washington Post newspapers to publish the then-classified Pentagon Papers without risk of government censorship or punishment.
President Richard Nixon had claimed executive authority to force the Times to suspend publication of classified information in its possession. The question before the court was whether the constitutional freedom of the press, guaranteed by the First Amendment, was subordinate to a claimed need of the executive branch of government to maintain the secrecy of information. The Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment did protect the right of the New York Times to print the materials.
Section 793 of the Espionage Act was cited by Attorney General John N. Mitchell as cause for the United States to sue to bar further publication of stories based upon the Pentagon Papers. The statute was spread over three pages of the United States Code Annotated and the only part that appeared to apply to the Times was 793(e), which made it criminal for:
Whoever having unauthorized possession of, access to, or control over any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, or note relating to the national defense, or information relating to the national defense which information the possessor has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation, willfully communicates, delivers, transmits or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted, or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it.
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