New York Times v. United States, 403 U.S. 713, June 30, 1971

PER CURIAM:

I.      THE FACTS

In New York Times vs. U.S., 403 U.S. 713, June 30, 1971, the federal government of the U.S. sought to enjoin the New York Times and the Washington Post from publishing the contents of a classified Pentagon study entitled “History of U.S. Decision-Making Process on Viet Nam Policy.”

II.    THE ISSUE

Is freedom of the press, guaranteed by the First Amendment of the federal Constitution, subordinate to a claimed need of the executive branch of government to maintain the secrecy of classified information?

III.   THE RULING

[The Court AFFIRMED the judgment of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (in the Washington Post case). It also REVERSED the order of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in the New York Times case) and REMANDED the case with directions to enter a judgment affirming the judgment of the District Court for the Southern District of New York in favor of the New York Times. The stays (preliminary injunction) entered June 25, 1971 by the Court were vacated.]

Any system of prior restraints of expression comes to [the] Court bearing a heavy presumption against its constitutional validity. The Government thus carries a heavy burden of showing justification for the imposition of such a restraint. The Court agreed with the District Court for the Southern District of New York (in the New York Times case) and the District Court for the D.C. and the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (in the Washington Post case) that in this particular case the Government had not met that burden.

Thus, the Court vacated the stay (preliminary injunction) it preliminarily issued previously against the two newspapers.