Legal Dictionary
Main Entry:
prior restraintFunction:
noun : governmental prohibition on expression (esp. by publication) before the expression actually takes place —see also
Near v. Minnesota and
New York Times Company v. United States in the
IMPORTANT CASES section —compare
CENSORSHIP,
FREEDOM OF SPEECH NOTE: In New York Times Company v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court restated its position that “any system of prior restraints” bears “a heavy presumption against constitutional validity” and that the government “carries a heavy burden of showing justification for the imposition of such a restraint.”
