Freedom of the Press: Courts Can’t Suppress Trial News Coverage
The case of Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart involved the trial of Erwin Charles Simants, accused of committing a grisly murder in Nebraska. The trial court judge issued an order that the media could not publish information “strongly implicative” of the defendant’s guilt.
The Supreme Court on this day unanimously declared the order an unconstitutional prior restraint of the press.
The landmark case establishing the principle that prior restraint of the press is a violation of the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of the press was Near v. Minnesota on June 1, 1931.
The Court: “The problems presented by this case are almost as old as the Republic. Neither in the Constitution nor in contemporaneous writings do we find that the conflict between these two important rights was anticipated, yet it is inconceivable that the authors of the Constitution were unaware of the potential conflicts between the right to an unbiased jury and the guarantee of freedom of the press. . .
“. . . prior restraints on speech and publication are the most serious and the least tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights.”
Learn more about Freedom of the Press: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/category/press
Learn more about the landmark 1931 on freedom of the press: Fred W. Friendly, Minnesota Rag (1981)