freedom of the press
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 303 U.S. 444 - Lovell v. City of Griffin · 1938Most cited · 2,446 citing opinions
the liberty of the press became initially a right to publish 'without a license what formerly could be published only with one.' While this freedom from previous restraint upon publication cannot be regarded as exhausting the guaranty of liberty, the prevention of that restraint was a leading purpose in the adoption of the constitutional provision.
How the Supreme Court has restated “freedom of the press”
Each Supreme Court definition of “freedom of the press,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “freedom of the press”
Court decisions citing the 3 opinions that defined “freedom of the press” — 4,144 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 3 definitions, chronological · 1907–1938
- 1907·205 U.S. 454 - Thomas Patterson v. People of the State of Colorado Ex Rel Attorney General of the State of Colorado[p5]· cited 913×ORIGINAL
The main purpose of such constitutional provisions is 'to prevent all such previous restraints upon publications as had been practised by other governments,' and they do not prevent the subsequent punishment of such as may be deemed contrary to the public welfare. ... The preliminary freedom extends as well to the false as to the true; the subsequent punishment may extend as well to the true as to the false.
prior restraint
The business of the Associated Press is not immune from regulation because it is an agency of the press. The publisher of a newspaper has no special immunity from the application of general laws.