Ruling in Near v. Minnesota, on June 1, 1931, the majority opinion declared that “the statute, so far as it authorized the proceedings in this action under clause (b) of section one, to be an infringement of the liberty of the press guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.”
The question presented was:
“[W]hether a statute authorizing such proceedings in restraint of publication is consistent with the conception of the liberty of the press as historically conceived and guaranteed.”
The opinion
Read the full rulingPDF · 1.42 MBPublished by the Library of Congress.
Oral argument
No recording. The Court did not begin taping oral argument until 1955.
