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New York Times Co. v. United States | 403 U.S. 713 (1971)

There are virtually no constitutional absolutes. But the First Amendment’s prohibition against prior restraints of the press comes close to being one. Are prior restraints ever permissible? The splintered United States Supreme Court addressed this issue in New York Times versus United States.

Daniel Ellsberg helped author a topsecret government study, informally called the Pentagon Papers, that contained embarrassing information about the government’s involvement in the ongoing Vietnam War. In 1971, he leaked portions of the report to the New York Times and Washington Post. After the newspapers published articles based on the leaked portions and indicated more articles were forthcoming, the Justice Department filed lawsuits in federal district courts in New York and Washington, D.C., seeking injunctions against publication of further articles based on certain portions of the leaked material. The government offered no proof that future articles would cause a break in diplomatic relations with any country or a new military conflict or would compromise military or intelligence operations. Rather, the government merely tried to prove that the articles would interfere with the State Department’s negotiations concerning the war’s end and generally embarrass its diplomatic efforts.

The two district courts denied preliminary injunctions, and the government appealed. The D.C. Circuit affirmed the district court’s order, but the Second Circuit entered a temporary restraining order and remanded to the district court for further proceedings.

The New York Times successfully petitioned the United States Supreme Court to review the case before judgment in the Second Circuit, while the United States successfully petitioned the Court to review the D.C. Circuit’s judgment. The Supreme Court consolidated the cases.

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