The Pentagon Papers: One of the Most Influential Supreme Court Cases in U.S. History

One of the many controversial Supreme Court cases of the twentieth century was that of the New York Times Company versus the United States. This 1971 case, commonly referred to as the "Pentagon Papers" case, challenged the boundaries of the First Amendment as well as the role of censorship.

The premise of the case dealt with certain confidential reports concerning the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. The already controversial Vietnam War provided the impetus for this particular case. However, the case had little to do with the war. In 1967, the Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, ordered an in-depth evaluation of the war. After more than a year, a several thousand-page report was compiled. These papers were referred to as the "Pentagon Papers." The problem began when Daniel Ellsberg, a former Defense Department economist, who was strongly against the war, began copying pages from this extensive report and releasing them to the press. In June of 1971, TheNew York Times began publishing the papers. Consequently, the Nixon administration sought to divert such publications. This was not the only case of its kind. The Department of Justice immediately filed an injunction against The New York Times. Several other newspapers were involved, including The Washington Post, and the Boston Globe. At first, the United States government secured a temporary court order to suspend the publication. However, this decision was soon overturned when The New York Times challenged the U.S. government in court.