Also known as: freedom of the press · press freedom
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The constitutional protection against governmental interference with journalistic publication and newsgathering activities. This safeguard prohibits prior restraints on publication and bars compelled speech or targeted regulations that burden the press.
Oriana Oberman, editor of a local daily, receives a court order barring publication of documents detailing government contracting irregularities. She publishes the materials anyway. The order is set aside because it functions as an unconstitutional prior restraint on the press.
Odette Orozco, an investigative journalist, receives a grand jury subpoena demanding the identity of a confidential source who supplied information about falsified safety data. She moves to quash the subpoena. The motion is denied because no constitutional privilege shields reporters from good-faith grand jury testimony.
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Owen Ortega, publisher of an online news site, obtains documents exposing military planning. The government seeks an injunction halting further publication. The injunction is refused because prior restraints on the press carry a heavy presumption of unconstitutionality.
Olga O'Neill, a state defendant, argues that her conviction rests on statements protected by the incorporated First Amendment. The state court applies the due process clause to shield her speech. The conviction is reversed because the amendment's press and speech protections bind the states.
Oasis Resorts runs advertisements in a newspaper discussing access to contraceptives. State officials threaten enforcement of a ban on such publications. The ban is struck down because it abridges the press's right to publish information on matters of personal liberty.
Oceanview Properties faces a criminal trial on fraud charges. The judge excludes all members of the press from portions of the proceedings. The closure order is vacated because the press possesses a First Amendment right of access to criminal trials absent overriding findings.
No constitutional privilege exists. Reporters must appear and testify in good-faith grand jury investigations even when asked to reveal confidential sources.
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Prior restraints carry a heavy presumption of unconstitutionality. Courts refuse injunctions unless the government meets an exceptionally high burden of justification.
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The First Amendment implicitly guarantees a right of access. Trial courts may close proceedings only upon specific findings of an overriding interest and narrow tailoring.
…of public men, of every description, which has not been confined to the strict limits of the common law. On this footing the freedom of the press has stood; on this foundation it yet stands . . . ." 4 Elliot's Debates, supra, p. 570. The right of free public discussion of the stewardship of public officials was thus, in Madison's…