Near v. Minnesota

The Court struck down prior restraints on publication, holding that censorship before print is generally incompatible with free speech.

Overview

Minnesota's public nuisance law allowed courts to shut down scandal-mongering newspapers. The Saturday Press, an anti-Semitic weekly, was enjoined from publishing. Chief Justice Hughes, for a 5-4 majority, held the statute an unconstitutional prior restraint, reasoning that a chief purpose of the First Amendment was to prevent previous restraints on publication, with publishers answerable afterward through libel and criminal law. Near established the near-absolute rule against prior censorship, later extended in the Pentagon Papers case, while acknowledging narrow exceptions for wartime security, obscenity, and incitement.