Near v. Minnesota

Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697 (1931), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court.

Minnesota’s ‘Public Nuisance’ law allowed courts to enjoin (prior restraint) publication of ‘malicious, scandalous, or defamatory’ newspapers. Jay Near was publishing The Saturday Press, which accused local officials of corruption. A court issued an injunction, and Near appealed.

Significance

Chief Justice Hughes’s 5-4 opinion struck down the Minnesota law as a violation of the First Amendment’s freedom of the press. The Court held that prior restraint — government censorship before publication — is presumptively unconstitutional. This was the first time the Supreme Court applied the free press clause to the states. While the Court recognized that prior restraint might be permitted in extreme cases (national security during wartime, obscenity), the ‘heavy presumption’ against it became a cornerstone of American press freedom.

Category

US Federal Case Law