Jay Near and Howard Guilford published a Minneapolis newspaper called the Saturday Press in 1927. The paper accused the local police chief of working with Jewish gangs and stated that other government officials had failed to do anything to stop this criminal connection. Consequently, the officials requested an injunction against the publication, arguing that it was “malicious, scandalous and defamatory” and thereby violated a public nuisance statute.

The Supreme Court ruled on the side of free speech, finding the law to be unconstitutional as a prior restraint, or prepublication censorship in Near v. Minnesota. This ruling established that the government can only censor a publication in extreme circumstances—such as when the speech threatens national security, incites violence or is obscene. Chief Justice Charles Hughes wrote the majority opinion.