AP Success - AP U.S. Gov & Pol: SCOTUS Comparison: Constitutionality, Censorship, and Prior Restraint: New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)

Founded in 1927, The Saturday Press published anti-Semitic and anti-Black content from its newsroom in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Publisher Jay M. Near claimed that Jewish Americans controlled the city’s politics. Attorney Floyd B. Olson sued the newspaper, claiming it violated the state’s Public Nuisance Law of 1925.

The first trial resulted in a judgement against The Saturday Press. The Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s ruling, citing that Near and his newspaper had been granted due process under the law. Appeals brought the case to the Supreme Court, where it became known as Near. V. Minnesota (1931).

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court reversed the lower courts’ decisions and proclaimed Minnesota’s Public Nuisance Law of 1925 unconstitutional. However, the Supreme Court upheld the practice of government censorship of the press in extreme circumstances.