New York Times Co. v. United States

During the Vietnam war, government documents were leaked to the press and eventually printed in the New York Times. The government ordered a temporary halt on the publication of the papers but the New York Times Co. argued that the First Amendment protected their right to publish them. The court's decision was issued per curiam in favor of the New York Times Co. They decided that there could be no prior restraint on the press in this instance because national security was not really at risk.

I think they made the right decision because the First Amendment guarantees freedom of the press. Justice Hugo Black wrote that the Court should have immediately denied the government's injunction. As he said, "the press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people." If the publications actually threatened national security then the government would be justified in its case. However, in this instance national security was not at risk.