New York Times Co. v. United States (1971) Part 1

Facts of the Case:

“In what became known as the ‘Pentagon Papers Case,’ the Nixon Administration attempted to prevent the New York Times and Washington Post from publishing materials belonging to a classified Defense Department study regarding the history of United States activities in Vietnam.” (www.oyez.org) These papers surfaced at a time when the American people were greatly divided on the issue of the US involvement in the Vietnam War and the papers were said to hold information about government deceit in the war. The Nixon Administration deemed the release of these documents as an issue of National security. “The New York Times fought for the right to publish the papers under the umbrella of the 1st Amendment.” (www.infoplease.com) The US Supreme Court needed to decide if the Nixon Administration had the right to stop the papers from publishing the information.