"The U.S. role in Indochina, in the years immediately after the second world war, was at first ambivalent... American involvement deepened gradually over the next two decades, with each Administration bequeathing to its successor a conflict whose dimensions were never fully revealed to the Congress or to the American people." — The Pentagon Papers, leaked excerpt published June 1971
The Supreme Court's New York Times Co. v. United States (1971) ruling supported which constitutional principle?
- Acheck_circle
That prior restraint of the press carries a heavy presumption against constitutionality
- B
That newspaper publishers may be jailed for printing classified material
- C
That state legislatures may license journalists in wartime
- D
That the executive branch may classify any document indefinitely without review
Explanation
The Court ruled 6-3 that the Nixon administration had not met the heavy burden required to justify prior restraint, allowing publication to continue. The other options invert the ruling's holding.