CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - FREEDOM OF THE PRESS - RESTRAINTS ON PUBLICATION

A recent Supreme Court decision establishes a new concept of freedom of the press, and adds new meaning to the liberty safeguarded by the Fourteenth Amendment. The defendant, Near, was enjoined from publishing his newspaper because it was alleged that the paper was largely devoted to the publication of malicious, scandalous, and defamatory articles about the grand jury, public officials, and others. The injunction was granted pursuant to a statute which made the publication of a malicious, scandalous, or defamatory newspaper, magazine, or periodical a nuisance subject to abatement by injunction. The Supreme Court of the United States decided that the statute violated the liberty of press guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, and was invalid because it imposed a previous restraint upon publication equivalent to a censorship.

Four justices dissented.