Home > Great American Court Cases > Near v. Minnesota

Legal Citation: 283 U.S. 697 (1931)

Appellant
J. M. Near

Appellee
State of Minnesota, ex rel. Floyd B. Olson, County Attorney of Hennepin County

Appellant's Claim
That a state "gag law" preventing publication of his newspaper constitutes prior restraint prohibited by the First Amendment.

Chief Lawyers for Appellant
Weymouth Kirkland, T. E. Latimer

Chief Lawyers for Appellee
James E. Markham, Arthur L. Markve

Justices for the Court
Louis D. Brandeis, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Charles Evans Hughes (writing for the Court), Owen Josephus Roberts, Harlan Fiske Stone

Justices Dissenting
Pierce Butler, James Clark McReynolds, George Sutherland, Willis Van Devanter

Place
Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision
1 June 1931

Decision
The Supreme Court struck down the gag...