New York Times Co. v. United States

New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States on the First Amendment right to freedom of the press. The ruling made it possible for The New York Times and The Washington Post newspapers to publish the then-classified Pentagon Papers without risk of government censorship or punishment.^[1]

New York Times Co. v. United States

New York Times Company v. United States; United States v. The Washington Post Company et al.

403 U.S. 713 (more)

91 S. Ct. 2140; 29 L. Ed. 2d 822; 1971 U.S. LEXIS 100

United States v. New York Times Co., 328 F. Supp. 324 (S.D.N.Y. 1971)
United States v. New York Times Co., 444 F.2d 544 (2d Cir. 1971)
United States v. Washington Post Co., 446 F.2d 1322, 1327 (D.C. Cir. 1971)

Black, joined by Douglas

Douglas, joined by Black

Brennan

Stewart, joined by White

White, joined by Stewart

Marshall

Burger

Harlan, joined by Burger, Blackmun

Blackmun

President Richard Nixon had claimed executive authority to force the Times to suspend publication of classified information in its possession. The question before the court was whether the constitutional freedom of the press, guaranteed by the First Amendment, was subordinate to a claimed need of the executive branch of government to maintain the secrecy of information. The Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment did protect the right of The New York Times to print the materials.^[1]

List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 403

a similar case in West Germany

Spiegel affair

a 2017 historical drama film directed by Steven Spielberg about the Pentagon Papers

The Post

Edgar, Harold; Schmidt, Benno C. Jr. (1973). . Columbia Law Review. 73 (5). Columbia Law Review: 929–1087. doi:10.2307/1121711. JSTOR 1121711.

"The Espionage Statutes and Publication of Defense Information"

Prados, John; Porter, Margaret Pratt (2004). Inside the Pentagon papers. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. 978-0-7006-1325-0. → Abrams is quoted as saying the book is the "most complete, incisive, and persuasive study of those documents yet published".

ISBN

Sheehan, Neil; et al. (1971). The Pentagon Papers. New York: New York Times Co.

Shapiro, Martin (1972). The Pentagon Papers and the Courts. Toronto: Chandler Publishing Company.

; Shelley, Mack; Bardes, Barbara (2005). American Government and Politics Today. Toronto: Thompson Wadsworth. ISBN 978-0-534-63162-8.

Schmidt, Steffen

Schwartz, Bernard (1992). . New York: Facts on File. ISBN 978-0-8160-2505-3.

Freedom of the Press

Works related to New York Times Co. v. United States at Wikisource

Text of New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971) is available from: CourtListener Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)

Cornell

Archived 2021-03-06 at the Wayback Machine a resource site that supports a currently playing docu-drama about the Pentagon Papers. The site provides historical context, timelines, bibliographical resources, information on discussions with current journalists, and helpful links.

New York Times Co. v. United States