Which case held that prior restraint on publication is generally unconstitutional?

• A. New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)
• B. Schenck v. United States (1919)
• C. Near v. Minnesota (1931)
• D. Dennis v. United States (1951)

Answer: (C)

Prior restraint is government censorship before publication, which the First Amendment protects strongly. Near v. Minnesota (1931) is the landmark ruling that such pre-publication censorship is generally unconstitutional. The Court struck down a state injunction aimed at preventing the publication of a scandal sheet, underscoring that the press should be free to publish and that the remedy for false or harmful content is to address it after publication, not to block it beforehand. This established a strong presumption against prior restraints in ordinary circumstances. Later cases, like New York Times Co. v. United States, refine the idea by recognizing that national-security cases may require stricter scrutiny, but Near remains the foundational statement that prior restraint on publication is, in general, impermissible. The other options address different aspects of speech law—wartime limits or post-publication consequences—not the general rule about prior restraint.