ABSTRACT
Prior restraint is any attempt by the government—a law passed by a legislature, an order signed by a judge, any effort by an executive or regulatory agency—to prevent someone from publishing, broadcasting, speaking, or interfering with other manners of expression. The Supreme Court has ruled that the ban on prior restraint also limits state and local governments and their agencies. It held that the First Amendment protected such disclosures even if the journalist knew or had reason to know the interception was unlawful—so long as the topic of the conversations was a matter of public concern. The decision presumably could justify the publication of documents such as the Pentagon Papers—if the journalist played no direct role in illegally obtaining them and publication posed no serious threat to national security. Censorship was the strategy kings and dictators employed to try to control opposition, criticism, and ideas they disagreed with. They devised various strategies to silence printers and later broadcasters.
