13. Upholding the free press in the face of restraints, the anti-Semitic and libelous Saturday Press was granted permission to continue operation under Near v. Minnesota
In 1927, J.M. Near – an anti-Semitic writer – along with Howard A. Guilford – previously convicted for criminal libel – began publishing The Saturday Press in Minneapolis. Claiming Jewish gangs were “ruling” the city as part of a conspiracy involving the police chief, the paper also targeted the city’s mayor as well as members of a grand jury. Filing a complaint under the Public Nuisance Law of 1925, known colloquially as the “Minnesota Gag Law”, an injunction was sought against the incendiary publication. Upheld by the Minnesota Supreme Court, it was reasoned the scandalous and unfounded allegations “injures and endangers”.
Financed by the publisher of the Chicago Tribune, Near took his case to the United States Supreme Court who ruled 5-4 in his favor. Holding that, except in rare cases, censorship of any kind to be unconstitutional, the majority opinion asserted the Public Nuisance Act to be unlawful regardless of whether or not Near’s charges against government officials were true. In his opinion, Justice Hughes contended “the fact that liberty of press may be abused does not make any less necessary the immunity of the press from prior restraint … a more serious evil would result if officials could determine which stories can be published”.