ABSTRACT
The significance of the Fourteenth Amendment, enacted in 1868, so far as freedom of the press is concerned found its roots in the Zenger trial of 1735 and had to evolve through a number of Supreme Court cases in the twentieth century to become full grown. During the 1920s and 1930s the decisions of the Supreme Court began the movement toward "incorporating" the First Amendment rights—speech, press, petition, and assembly—into the "privileges and immunities" and the "equal protection of the laws" described in the Fourteenth Amendment. The judicial thinking about the language and precedence of the First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment opinions led to a "unitary theory of freedom of speech against both State and Federal governments." One other aspect of the judicial dialogue worth noting in regard to First Amendment rights—particularly those affecting the press—was the movement toward federal judges rather than juries as guardians of freedom.
