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- New York Times Co. v. United States
- U.S. Supreme Court, 1971
-
- The New York
- Times printed allegedly classified documents that leaked from the Pentagon
- about the war in Vietnam. A 47 volume classified history of the American involvement
- in Vietnam was distributed to the Times and, later, the Post by Daniel Ellsberg,
- a minor writer in the Pentagon Papers. The Times published these papers bit
- by bit until the Nixon administration sought an injunction on the Times to
- stop publication. The Supreme Court found that the First Amendment did not
- permit an injunction against the Times.
-
- The issue here is weather or not
- the First Amendment applies to federal papers, and weather prior restraint
- is unconstitutional. Also, can the government seek an injunction on a press
- to halt publication of such documents, even in cases of national security.
-
-
- The Supreme Court Ruled 6-3 in favor of the New York Times, saying that
- the First Amendment did not permit an injunction against the press. The Court
- found that the Government did not relieve their "Heavy Burden" of proof to
- justify the injunction based on prior restraint. This verdict was reached
- June 25, 1971. A heavy burden of proof is placed on the government whenever
- there is grounds for prior restraint. Is this burden is not sufficiently substantiated,
- then and injunction cannot be issued.
-
- The First Amendment protects the
- rights of individuals and the press to communicate freely. The U.S. has the
- right to halt any publication that they deem harmful, if and only if, they
- show enough evidence to support their injunction, and meet their "Heavy Burden"
- of proof imposed upon them by the courts.
- Please put your paper here.
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