CITIZENS UNITED v. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
In this case, a company published a 90 minute video discouraging voting for Hillary Clinton in a presidential election. Due to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, there has to be equal time for each candidate. The company pleas that it was a restriction of their Freedom of Press to limit the time of their video. The Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for the government to limit the press time for candidates. Even though the video discouraged voting for Hillary Clinton, the documenters have the right to publish the video because of their First Amendment rights.
NEAR VS. MINNESOTA
Minnesota had a law that allowed the state to punish the publisher of papers, magazines, etc. that were decided as offensive to the state. A local publisher of a weekly newspaper, Near, published statements against the police officers and officials. The state was given permission to shut down the newspaper. In an attempt to save the paper, Near argued that the law was unconstitutional. The supreme court found that the law was a form of censorship, which is unconstitutional. This shows that the right of freedom of the press is very important because the publisher has the right to publish their sentiments.
REX VS. ZENGER(1735)
In 1735, a man named John Peter Zenger was put on trial because he was accused of seditious libel against the governor of New York. Zenger was held for 10 months, then put on trial. The jury acquitted Zenger becasue what he stated was true. They jury could not do any thing because he was not making false accusations against the governor. However, this was not a Supreme Court case, but still stood out in American History as an important event having to do with the freedom of press.
PEOPLE VS. CROSSWELL (1804)
Harry Crosswell was accused for seditious libel for printing false information of President Thomas Jefferson in his newspaper. A man named Alexander Hamilton represented Crosswell in the appeal, arguing that truths should not be accused as libel. His conviction was upheld, and made New York change the law to permit truth as a defense. This also, was not a Supreme Court case, but still stood our in American History as a representation of freedom of the press.