New York Times Co. v. United States

New York Times Co. v. United States
Argued June 26, 1971
Decided June 30, 1971
Full case nameNew York Times Company v. United States; United States v. The Washington Post Company et al.
Citations403 U.S. 713 (more)
91 S. Ct. 2140; 29 L. Ed. 2d 822; 1971 U.S. LEXIS 100
Case history
PriorUnited States v. New York Times Co., 328 F. Supp. 324 (S.D.N.Y. 1971)
United States v. New York Times Co., 444 F.2d 544 (2d Cir. 1971)
United States v. Washington Post Co., 446 F.2d 1322, 1327 (D.C. Cir. 1971)
Holding
To exercise prior restraint, the Government must show sufficient evidence that the publication would have caused a "grave and irreparable" danger.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
Hugo Black · William O. Douglas
John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr.
Potter Stewart · Byron White
Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
Case opinions
Per curiam
ConcurrenceBlack, joined by Douglas
ConcurrenceDouglas, joined by Black
ConcurrenceBrennan
ConcurrenceStewart, joined by White
ConcurrenceWhite, joined by Stewart
ConcurrenceMarshall
DissentBurger
DissentHarlan, joined by Burger, Blackmun
DissentBlackmun
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I

New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States on the First Amendment right to freedom of the press. The ruling made it possible for The New York Times and The Washington Post newspapers to publish the then-classified Pentagon Papers without risk of government censorship or punishment.[1]

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.[1]

  1. ^ a b New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971). Public domain This article incorporates public domain material from this U.S government document.