Knowra Censorship in the United States Censorship in the United States Censorship in the United States is the suppression or restriction of expression by government authorities or private institutions. Its limits are shaped by constitutional protections, statutes, and institutional policies.
First Amendment to the United States Constitution : The constitutional provision protecting freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition from government abridgment. It sets the central constitutional limit on government censorship.
Schenck v. United States : A 1919 Supreme Court decision upholding convictions for anti-draft leaflets under a now-abandoned danger test. It represents an early, restrictive approach to wartime dissent.
Alien and Sedition Acts : Four federal laws enacted in 1798, including measures that criminalized certain criticism of the national government. They were an early national attempt to punish political criticism.
Private censorship : The suppression or restriction of expression by nongovernmental organizations, businesses, or individuals. Private institutions may restrict speech without directly violating the First Amendment.
Prior restraint : A government restriction that prevents expression before it is published or communicated. Courts treat advance suppression as an especially serious form of censorship.
Near v. Minnesota : A 1931 Supreme Court decision that struck down a state law imposing prior restraint on a newspaper. It established strong constitutional protection against prior restraint.
Comstock laws : Nineteenth-century United States laws restricting the mailing of materials deemed obscene, including information about contraception. They extended censorship through postal law and moral regulation.
Book banning in the United States : Efforts in the United States to remove books from schools, libraries, or other public collections. Book challenges can involve government action, private pressure, or both.
Obscenity in the United States : A narrow category of sexually explicit material that the First Amendment does not protect under the Miller test. Obscenity illustrates a recognized constitutional exception to speech protection.
New York Times Co. v. United States : A 1971 Supreme Court decision rejecting the federal government’s attempt to block publication of the Pentagon Papers. It tested whether national-security claims could justify stopping publication.
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