New York times v. united states official decision
Even though President Richard Nixon suspended The New York Times from publishing this classified information, the New York Times pleaded that this was in violation of "freedom of the press". The Burger Court assembled and decided on the case. Justice Brennan said "since the publication would not cause an inevitable, direct, and immediate event imperiling the safety of American forces, the restraint of suspension of the publication was unjust." With 6 votes for the New York Times and 3 votes against, ultimately the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment did protect the right of the New York Times to publish the information. This decision was made because Nixon violated the First Amendment (specifically freedom of speech and freedom of press), meaning that since New York Times publishing the information would cause no threat to national security, they had every right to publish the information.
Video from C-Span on the news back when the decision of New York Times v. United States was made.
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